SOI Alex Shirt, White

Another make from Sew Over It's ebook, My Capsule Wardrobe, City Break. I was actually planning to make the Erin Skirt first, but instead have made the Molly Top and now the Alex Shirt, and Erin is still languishing in my queue.

Please excuse the weird picture angle. I struggled to find a location with enough light for the shirt to show up and no nasty background mess. In the end, these shots looking downward with the lawn as the background were the only thing that worked. I hope it is obvious that these are looking down, and not that my legs are half the length they should be!

This shirt jumped up the sewing queue because the weather got nice, prompting me to think about some Liberty Poplin that I have stashed, intending to make this pattern. I decided to make a wearable toile of this first, using an old white sheet, and this is the result.

I cut out size 10 with no changes to the paper pattern. The style has a lot of ease, so I didn't bother with my usual short waist adjustment. I did cut a 1/2 inch sway back adjustment out of the fabric piece, at the centre of the back pattern piece (below the yoke).

This is a great shirt pattern if you want to make a shirt, but skip a lot of the complicated steps. Of course, some people love tailoring and shirtmaking, but if you're like me and want shortcuts, this one has them in spades: one piece collar, one piece sleeves, no sleeve cuffs, no button bands, no lapel points. But it still has a nice yoke, good looking collar, pleat in the back and a shaped hem.

I really like the way the yoke comes together to enclose the seams, but it took me a bit of figuring out to get the twist right. And a bit of unpicking. The photos in the instructions are not that clear. Stay stiching is not mentioned, but would probably be a good idea. Of course, I didn't.

I didn't particularly like the finish for the top of the pocket. Folding over the top edge twice leaves a raw edge at the top, once the sides are folded in. I folded that inside, but the notches created another raw edge. For future, mark the notches with chalk, or an outside notch. In future, I would make the top of the pocket completely differently by sewing right sides together and turning to outside, with a point at the top. I would also remove 1cm from the bottom pocket edge. I think they are a bit too long for me and are giving me a saggy boob effect. It's amazing how much pocket size and placement can change the appearance of your body. (Learned that from jeans pocket discussion on Closet Case.) I also didn't manage to effect the rounded corners on the bottom pocket. Mine are straight sided slants, which is fine.

I put the collar on upside down. But only realised this after I had topstitched it closed. It would look worse to unpick and re-do, so I have left it as is. I attached right sides together, it actually goes on to the wrong side of the shirt to top collar piece. Instead of slip stitching down by hand, I topstitched it down. It fitted well - hooray! The collar pieces come right to the edge of the lapel, so not matching up would be very obvious. So much so, that it would be wise to stitch each side separately, working from the outside to meet in the centre. My fabric stretched out slightly on sewing, so I have a tiny pleat on the inside collar seam at the back.

It is also worth remembering to make the fold over button bands as neat as possible. I love the simplicity of the pattern in that the button bands are not separate pieces and not interfaced. Just hem the front pieces and you're done. But they are visible on the outside as they form the top lapels. Mine are neat, but not symmetrical. One has a deeper hem than the other. If I'd thought it through properly, I would have stitched the hem side up and controlled better for the distance from the edge.

I tried flat felled seams for sewing up the side seams. Hilariously, I managed to do two different versions, one with the right sides together, the other correctly with the wrong sides together. I carried on and flat felled the right sides one, and what do you know? I like that finish better. The edge is on the inside and is a much neater finish.

This shirt pattern would not work for making a sleeveless version. I didn't realise earlier, but it has a dropped shoulder seam. It makes the shirt more casual and it is quite cute, but definitely not suitable for hacking off the sleeves. I was glad I did French seams for the sleeves as they are visible when they are rolled up. Which they always are. I really like the sleeve tabs, but the lack of any kind of finishing at the cuff, means that it looks like a lab coat with the sleeves unrolled. The line drawing is a bit misleading, it looks like the sleeves gather into a cuff band. They don't, just hemmed. A gathered cuff band would need a button closure to enable them to roll up. Cute, but not suitable for the simplicity of this shirt pattern. I'm thinking about putting an extra button higher up the sleeve, so that I can roll the sleeves to above the elbow, as well as below. I placed my existing button much higher than the pattern calls for, and it is not re-inforced. I hope it holds without anything to anchor it on. In a future make, I might put a little square piece with a cross, same as the sleeve tab, but higher up, for a second button. Or just attach the tab higher.

The hem instructions should be a little better. The pattern says overlock, then turn up once and sew. I wanted a better finish than that, so I turned up twice, without overlocking. I kept it as narrow as possible, and it has come out perfectly. Probably better than I could manage with a bias facing. If someone sews enough to have invested in an overlocker, they can probably manage a tiny twin, or rolled hem.

The buttons are my favourite feature and actually saved the shirt for me in the end. The shirt is so large and shapeless, that it was looking extremely like a lab coat. I have a large supply of mens shirt buttons, but they looked way to shirt-like on this. I wanted a casual, summer shirt, not a quasi-business shirt. So I decided to do completely the opposite of corporate, and use non-matching blue/turquoise buttons. This part was actually pretty fun, choosing all the little blue orphan buttons from my button jar. They are different sizes and shapes too. I have absolutely no idea where any of them came from. I love how they instantly make the shirt look super-casual, and more nautical. I had two the same so these went on the pockets and sleeve tabs. But mixed up, of course! If I couldn't have anchor print fabric, I have blue buttons.

I used Lisa's trick and didn't sew buttonholes for the buttons, I sewed them through the two layers of lapel and fastened the shirt shut. It is so large that it easily pulls over my head.  But... I might go back and change them to buttonholes. A white summer shirt is a great layering piece, and no buttonholes means I can't wear it open as a beach cover up, or half open over a vest or t-shirt.

Finally, the fabric: it is an old sheet, a woven cotton sateen. It has a lovely checked waffle weave, and after the centre of the sheet wore out, there was still lots of usable fabric around the edges. So much for soft sheets, my crappy ones last over 10 years and the expensive high thread count ones wear out super fast.

I used this for a toile of the pattern, but it may be my only version of this. I'm definitely not using the Liberty for it. On the plus side, the lack of shaping means the fabric is not spoiled by seams or darts, but on the minus side, it is so large and billowy, that a busy print will be way too much of a good thing. Liberty is going to be a sleeveless shirt, or shirt dress. Got to have some skin to break up all that ditsy floral.

The final verdict is mixed. With no shaping at all, this has come up very big. I've drawn in some shaping through the side seams for next time. It takes in some of the blousiness of the shirt. But I do like the shirt and I am glad it is in my wardrobe. It has some lovely design details, and it looks a lot more tailored than it is. It might even become a summer staple for me.

Costs:
 Fabric: upcycled sheet, £0
 Pattern: £4.67 (1 of 3 in book)
 Thread: stash, £0
 Buttons: stash, £0
Total: £4.67