So I made my first button down shirt, finally. Simp 4077 View E. This out of Anna Maria Horner fabric Gordon and Lyn gave me for
my birthday in May. It took me a few weeks to finish, sleeves one day, hemming another, fitting it using the darts for my "nursing figure."
I will definitely use this pattern again, but there are things I'll change:
- the shoulders need to be widened. I do have broad shoulders, so the sleeves begin probably an inch too close to my neck.
- maybe I'll buy the pattern again and cut a ize 10-12 (Joann has them for $1 once in a while, just jump on their mailing list to find out when) . On the back of each pattern, they'll list what your measurements should be for each size. I took my fresh-out-of-pregnancy measurements and circled what my hips were, waist, etc. (see photo). According to their measurements, I should have cut a size 16. I haven't worn a 16 since my mission. I must have been in denial because I cut a size 8, so to make up for it, I skipped the back darts, let out the front darts a bit.
- that darned Chinese collar was a beast. It was my first time doing a collar like that, and I had to tweak and tuck it a bit (see photo). I will try it again, I think I cut the wrong size for it so kept trimming it to fit the neck of the shirt.
What I like about Simplicity 4077:
- the cap sleeves. I love 'em.
- I love wearing quilting fabric. This AMH fabric was nice and soft. I've made clothes for myself before but only with upholstery-type Ikea fabric. I can't wait to make more quilt clothes for myself.
- I lengthened the shirt to reach my hips, so it's almost a tunic, and I love the length. I despise short shirts nowadays. Surprisingly, this shirt took 1 yard of regular sized (44" wide) fabric. I only had 1 yard of it...another reason why I had to cut a size 8 instead of 16.
Here's another dress I saw on
Make Something that I think would be fun to make using elastic thread to shirr the waist and neckline. Maybe I can sell an organ to afford some of this Liberty Lawn fabric.
That is an awesome shirt, and I love the fabric! I recently bought a Simplicity dress pattern and was horrified to see that my measurements were perfect for a 12/14 dress. I too cut a size 8 (I'm so vain!) and used a smaller seam allowance. :) Maybe I'll have to try the dress on Make Something, too; I love it. You are so inspiring and you need to bring your kiddos over for a swim. Any day is great for us!
ReplyDeletethat is a cute shirt. I love to have one for me too.
ReplyDeletei love how your shirt turned out! this is one of my favorite shirt patterns (maybe you saw that on my blog/flickr page) and i've made it 3 times and have been itching to make it again.
ReplyDeleteyou just can't think about the pattern size or it will make any woman feel large. i make a 14 when really i'm a 10. depressing.
Cynthia, uh, yeah, I totally saw your blog or flickr photos a while back and thought the pattern looked great, so next time Joann had their $1 pattern sale I got one. Thank you for the inspiration, really. I've made another shirt and used the big collar this time...I don't know, a little too butterfly collar, but everyone says it's ok. Now I'm looking for a long sleeve pattern for Fall/Winter that aren't too grandma around the cuff, but who knows.
ReplyDelete