0 Degrees Challenge

Welcome to the WSBN most exciting challenge yet! You can read all about it on Leimomi's blog. The idea itself is quite simple - we are based in Wellington, we shop in the same local fabric shops and we often have same patterns. So we wondered if we can create links between the members of our group. Spoiler alert - it worked!

I am the second one in our chain! The whole think started with Sophie's Granville shirt sewn with pretty floral cotton voile bought in the Fabric Store. I had bought the same fabric with the same pattern in mind so we have a copy cat link ;)

Having made Granville shirt before I decided to make some changes:

• I cut size 14 with 5 cm FBA
• kept size's 12 shoulder seam length
• reduced the curve on the bottom of the shirt as it was sticking out funny
• moved the waist 2,5 cm up
• shortened the sleeves but they are still too long (my punishment for not taking notes on changes made on my first Granville)

I think the fit is much nicer now but I still have some slight gaping issues (photo below). I also think that my shirt is a bit too roomy around waist so I might go back to size 12 there when sewing my next one.

Sewing this shirt included some sewing drama. When I got to the sleeves and was just about to set them in I noticed a rip in the fabric!!! I was being careful with it so I have no idea where it came from. I was about to cry as I thought it was ruined. Luckily the group helped me find some good ideas how to deal with it including adding a lace appliqué, lace ribbon or a strip of contrasting fabric. I chose adding a strip of the same fabric that really blended in thanks to a busy pattern. So let's call it a design feature ;) There is another one of those. I'm not even sure why I am telling you all of that - no one would notice it in real life! So the second design feature is the buttons and buttonholes on the cuffs. Can you believe I double checked if I got the right side to put the buttonholes and still I sewn them on the wrong side? Yeah, I'm that kind of a person! 

Can you see the fix?

Design feature number 2 ;)

Hop over to Sandra to see how she is linked to me and keep an eye out for updates on Leimomi's blog :)

First proper shirt!

You don't even know how excited I am about this make! Do you have a "dream wardrobe" that consists of all the things that you would love to wear that you can't in real life for more or less valid reasons? For example, I love high necklines. Do I wear them? No, they make me look extremely top-heavy and they don't do any favours to me and my figure. Another "dream"piece of clothing were shirts. Not being a cup A or B I could never find a shirt that would fit me well. There would be gaping between the buttonholes, pulling lines everywhere or they would look like a sack with buttons on. I almost gave up hope...

...and then I started sewing. Sewing makes everything better! Up until now shirts scared me though - collars, collar stands, cuffs... I made a simple shirt once before and the collar got me completely lost and it looked ... well, not very good. This time I had proper instructions and it went so easily that I wondered if I missed out on some parts or steps!

Anyway, lets get to sewing notes. The pattern is Sewaholic Granville. Since it's designed for pear-shaped woman I had to do some alterations. I did my first proper FBA! The shirt is size 12 with 5 cm FBA done following this awesome tutorial. The only other change I made to the pattern before cutting it was shortening the sleeve. The fabric used is poplin in pretty aqua (?) colour. It was really cheap buy and I figured that if it works I'd wear it, if it doesn't that I'd only invest $5 and my time...

I think it worked well. Instructions were great - I usually sew with Burda where the collar instructions are likely to be "sew in the collar" ;) I got a bit lost with plackets but then I found this and 5 min later I was done. I love the burrito yoke method in the pattern! Almost all the seams are flat-felled. The sleeve and the armhole seams are just zig-zaged as I didn't know how to deal with them. My sewing machine had no problems with 7 buttonholes but it screwed up the eighth one! This always happens to me. Buttons are recycled from some old top and I absolutely love them.

Geez, I really should have iron the clothes before taking photos!!! Sorry for that!

Now I get why people say that shirt making is incredibly satisfying. All that topstitching <3 It was probably most technical piece of clothing I ever made and I learnt a lot. But shirt is not perfect. Collar top-stitching could be better. After a day of wearing it at work I also realized that my shirt is a bit small. There is a tiny bit of gaping, partially because of buttons position. I decided to size up for the next Granville that you will see pretty soon. And again...and again... I think I'm going to have a problem. At the moment I have 5 pieces of fabric that are destined to become Granville shirts!

I might be obsessed ;)