N.B. All of the following post was written BEFORE I watched the great vlog from Silhouette Patterns entitled ‘Armholes & Sleeves’. Never again will I have to suffer the trials and tribulations presented by this project. Happy stitching!

At the end of the previous post about this shirt I was considering conversion to a sleeveless option. In anticipation of going that route, I therefore carefully removed the offending sleeves (noting that the seam allowance would now be ¼ inch only) and prepared a long length of self-bias ready to bind the armholes. I tried on the shirt and it would be ‘OK’ sleeveless but not what I really wanted. If I went down the sleeveless route there was a strong chance of flashing my underwear as the armholes were large and deep. I recalled that I had some remnant fabric from making a bag a couple of years ago – would I be able to locate the extra fabric and could I make some new sleeves? I went on a ‘treasure hunt’ through my boxes of fabric and was most fortunate to find a large piece (about 1 yard of full width) of the printed cotton. Right – let’s get this show on the road!

The gaping armhole!

With the shirt modelled on the dress form I measured the gaping armhole. It was approximately 9 inches across at the cap, 9 inches deep. The front armscye was 12 inches and the back armscye 14 inches.

I retrieved the original sleeve pattern from the envelope and traced onto pattern paper. Now, I needed to expand the sleeve cap to at least 9 inches width and lengthen the front and back armscye lengths – plus seam allowance. To do this, I slashed the pattern in several places from the head down almost to the hem and then cut up from the hem leaving a ‘hinge’ to pivot as I spread the pattern. The ‘hinge’ area was reinforced with magic tape.

Pattern slashed and spread to new dimensions

Each slash was spread by ½ inch and then taped to spare paper on the reverse. This expanded sleeve head would be gathered to fit the armscye and should provide sufficient room for easy movement of my arm.

I cut two sleeves using some soft calico from Lady Sew & Sew of Marlow (my ‘go to’ supplier for great calico) and hand basted them into position. Oh so much better. I needed to reduce the ‘expansion’ by 1 inch on the front armhole and the length of the sleeve but overall it looked ‘good to go’. I unpicked the toile sleeves, pressed and used them to make a new pattern.

New sleeve toile pattern

Taking care to ensure that I cut each sleeve with the pattern running in the correct direction (I did not want dogs standing on their heads!). As the hemline of the sleeves was now a gentle curve, I decided to repeat the contrast striped bias piping along the hems.

Contrast striped fabric piping

Sleeve hem with bias facing

Completed sleeve inserted

Having completed the preparation of the new sleeves, I inserted with hand basting to double-check the fit. Not perfect but a vast improvement on the first versions so I proceeded with machine stitching. Due to the narrow seam allowance I had to take great care when neatening the raw edges with the overlocker.

Finally finished!

All done so now I can enjoy my new shirt and get on with the next project. Something a little less taxing in the fitting department!

This version of McCalls 2797 is now Out of Print but I managed to find a replacement to my very well-worn and tatty original pattern on etsy.com. I wanted to revisit this style but could not find any of my original adaptations and fitting adjustments. I would need to start again from the beginning.

First, measure myself and compare with the pattern’s stated measurements. That done, I chose to make this ‘wearable muslin’ from a length of Bright Blue background dog print cotton fabric purchased at New Threads Quilt shop, Weyhill Fairground, sometime last year, or it may even have been 2015! So this project is definitely part of my stash-busting resolution. The fabric had been laundered and pressed ready to get making a new shirt.

I would be making View A and cut an 18 at the shoulders before grading out for bust, waist and hips. I made no changes to the length of the bodice or the sleeves.

The construction of the shirt was very straightforward. Panel and shoulder seams were stitched and overlocked. The neckline was stay-stitched and a label inset placed at the back neck.

back neckline showing the top-stitched label insert

I wanted to add some definition to the collar and for this I used a strip of striped bias fabric made into narrow piping. The fabric for the piping came from an old pyjama jacket of my husband’s – definitely re-cycling! In order to make piping the outer edge of the collar easier, I rounded the sharp point using the base of my pencil sharpener as a guide for the curve. The collar was completed and attached to the neckline. Next I attached the facings. The pattern calls for the facing to be cut from the same pattern piece as the central panel of the shirt but I thought this would be too substantial for a Summer garment and therefore drafted my own facing piece. I drew a line from 3” along the shoulder seam curving gently over the bust area and then 3” wide down the front edge. Both the collar and the facing were interfaced with medium weight fusible interfacing.

Piped collar

For the side seams I took the standard 5/8^th inch seam allowance but when I tried on the shirt found that it was too tight around the waist and hips. I unpicked the stitching and re-sewed taking a bare ¼ inch seam allowance thus providing an additional 1 inch of ease. The sleeves were prepared with a 1 inch machine sewn hem prior to insertion. Insertion of the sleeves was straightforward and I finished off the construction by overlocking and machine stitching a narrow hem for the bodice of the shirt. As a new feature for me, instead of traditional buttons and buttonholes, I used 5 White plastic poppers to fasten the shirt.

Now for the finale – oh dear – I should have had a fitting with the sleeves tacked in place. They were much too tight and it was like wearing a straight jacket! The shirt rode up at the back neck and the whole thing was uncomfortable to wear. Also, I noticed that my bust was pulling the front hemline up but fortunately as it is shaped this problem is not so obvious as the sleeves issue.

The finished shirt

I am pondering what to do to resolve the issue. Probably the best thing is to remove the sleeves, make some self-fabric binding (or some more of the contrast stripe?) to convert the shirt to a sleeveless over-blouse. Watch this space…… in the meantime, I have re-drafted the sleeve and the front centre and side panel patterns to account for the raised hemline. Before I use one of my ‘special favourite’ fabrics to make this style again, I think it will be best to try another ‘wearable’ muslin.

KWIK SEW K3915 – view A

I picked up this pattern because I was attracted to the unusual collar which is gathered into a V-neckline. Whilst at Franklins I was also drawn to an Autumnal printed jersey fabric on sale at £9.95/m less my special 10% discount. I bought 1.5m and by the end of the afternoon the fabric had been laundered and cut out ready for stitching!

A previous Kwik Sew pattern that I made up came out too wide at the shoulders for me, so this time I used my High Bust measurement and copied off the size L (40-41½” bust) and graded out for my full bust and rubenesque hips. I also measured the sleeve pattern and reduced by 3” (I have very short arms!), the bodice was left at the same length. I made sure to mark up the pattern pieces that there is only ¼ inch seam allowances for this pattern.

I sat down with every confidence that this pullover top would take about an hour to stitch together. Wrong! Having changed to jersey needles in the overlocker and threaded up with 4 threads, I was unable to achieve a satisfactory stitch. After about 3 attempts I finally managed to resolve the tension issues and was able to produce a great stitch. After that little hiatus, things went very well.

The gathering for the front of the collar was fiddly, especially as this particular jersey fabric was fine and very stretchy. I managed it by basting on the sewing machine. I had already decided to ignore the faux button loops as I thought the print on the fabric was busy enough without adding extra ‘enhancements’.

close up of the gathered collar

At first fitting everything was fine except that the top was over long. I made a 1½ inch hem on the bodice and the same on the sleeves before top stitching with the twin needle.

KWIK SEW K3915

Although I originally envisaged this top as a garment for the early Autumn, with the current chilly, wet weather, I shall be wearing it over the next few days until Spring/Summer weather returns. Also, now that I have ‘trialled’ the pattern, later in the year I will be making more in a heavier weight jersey for the ‘real’ Autumn and Winter seasons.

Well I must say that I am pleased to get that blouse finished!

Currently I am struggling with sewing woven fabrics and having recently ‘acquired’ some extra weight, find that I need to make a few new blouses and tops, especially as the days are getting warmer.

I was browsing through my cotton fabrics when I came across this 2 metre length of the Chicken and stripes print that was purchased from Fabricland in Salisbury some time ago, (does this count as using up some of my stash?).

The previous ‘Chicken’ blouse had a classic revere collar which I found was ‘fiddly’ to stitch, so this time I opted for a shawl collar which should be less time-consuming.

I retrieved the McCalls 6438 (out of print) dress pattern envelope that contained a revised tissue for blouse-making.

However, I discovered – too late – that it is not long enough in the front. It definitely needs another 4 inches to account for the extra fabric taken up by my bust.

Apart from that, the construction was fairly straightforward. I ignored the shaping of the collar and included some Dark Red satin piping from my stash. This was applied around the collar and also on the sleeve hems. The front and back facings have been top-stitched which will prevent them from ‘popping’ out. The hem is shaped and top-stitched.

I used five 5/8^th Rusty Red buttons from my stash which were applied using my new button application machine foot.

New machine foot

The blouse is very loose so should be comfortable to wear when it is warm but it will never be a favourite. It will probably lurk at the  back of my wardrobe for a long time!

Back view – for the back of the wardrobe!

Inspired by all the re-modelling and alterations that my e-mail friend, Antje, in Germany undertakes, I decided to do a little myself. Those of you that know me will also be aware that “I do not do alterations” so this is way out of my comfort zone.

I had rescued a heavy cotton lace neckline insert from an old top and having mended a couple of gaps, thought it would look good at the neckline of a basic Navy & White tee recently purchased from Bon Marche for £8.00.

First I pinned the insert to the tee and tried it on. It needed to be placed lower down so that I would avoid stitching over the faux placket detail of the shirt. I then set my machine with white thread in the needle and bobbin together with a narrow zig-zag stitch. The insert was stitched in place and the background of the tee removed.

The insert is still a little higher than I would like but overall I am pleased with the result. Meantime, I have ordered a selection of heavy embroidered lace inserts from eBay and plan to incorporate them into new tops for the Spring and Summer.