Sylvia Sews

This week, I sewed another Friday Pattern Co. design! Their patterns are one of the few companies where the designs don’t look dated on first glance. I know that a lot of that “current” look is just styling and advertising vs. actual pattern construction, but I’m not discerning enough to always separate that when I look at Joanns patterns, for example.

Anyways, typically when I look at clothes, if I see boxy and cropped in the description I physically cringe and scroll away as fast as I can.

However, now with the power of sizing to my own measurements, I felt there was a chance this style of top could fill a big wardrobe gap.

After I bought the pattern, I looked up other completed shirts and pattern reviews to get more of an idea of how it turns out in different fabrics and styles.

I got worried when I read a written review that said, “I made this shirt and instantly felt like I was wearing a Saturday night bowling league uniform… in a bad way”.

Looking again at the shirt with this review in my mind, it admittedly does look a bit like a bowling uniform. In a good way though? Pondering a little more… with bowling on the brain now… was the shirt named after this Donny???

Comparing the design, I am 99% sure this was the inspiration.

Since this is intended to be a boxy top, I couldn’t get too in the weeds with sizing and alterations. Always a bit of a relief.

I made a size Medium with a full bust adjustment and lengthened the shirt 3 inches. One tip I read was take your height difference and subtract from the standard pattern height, then divide by two to scale the pattern to your height.

So 6’1-5’6= 7inches/2=3.5 inches. That’s how I ended up choosing 3 ish inches.

That method was successful, and it gave me the same cropped look I saw on the model images scaled to my height. (You can imagine how dumb this would look if it was 3 inches shorter on me, and consequently why I don’t buy these types of tops in stores.)

The bust adjustment seemed successful, but I am still not totally confident about dart placement or how to redraw one. I guesstimated that and tried the shirt on dozens of times to find a good spot. There definitely is the more expeditious and accurate way than that…. It just wasn’t clicking for me this project. Next time. Still, I definitely think I ended up with a better shape compared to just sizing up.

It feels corny to say, but this was a true pleasure to sew. Nothing was too finicky or fussy. My machine and material worked great. I was enjoying paying attention to the details, like making sure I matched the thread perfectly to the fabric and doing all the optional topstitching! I was super patient and didn’t rush through difficult parts to hurry up and get a completed product (Easier said than done to do).

I used a 100% cotton batiste fabric I ordered from Blackbird fabric.

I love this shirt!! I plan to make several more in the future. I would like to try adding extra length on one to get a different vibe and drape. I think that would also look cute. So pleased! I wore it out today and it was light and airy, and looks a lot nicer than a plain knit t shirt and jeans. And truly the same comfort level! No restriction of movement in my arms or back .

What do we think? Cute or do I look like Steve Buscemi? Or both.. those two things don’t need to be mutually exclusive.