The Tim Gunn Project: The Classic White Shirt

Stash Busting 2014:  McCall's 8943

Fabric:   1.8 metres of 100% cotton and 1 metre of interfacing.  

Buttons:  4 white buttons

Thread:   2 spool of threads

Bias Tape:  0.2 metres 

McCall's 8943 is a long sought after pattern with french cuffs! And now I can finally knock the classic white shirt off my Tim Gunn list.

Once upon a time, I did have a copy of this pattern and then I out-grew it before I even had to make it. I'm thrilled that I found another copy in my current size.   

This is a vintage, McCall's 8943, Lida Baday jumper and shirt pattern. I adore this shirt pattern with front and back tucks details and french cuffs. I even picked up a pair of cuff links to wear with the shirt. The pattern even has instructions for a button alternative that can be made instead of cuff links.

The pattern is lovely, no complaints.  I would totally recommend this if you are looking for a shirt pattern. I found this one over at Etsy.

The only alterations to the pattern were shortening the sleeve length, sewing bias tape at the back neckline and reducing the width of the front and back tucks. This shirt has a lot of ease in the bust area where as I could use the extra ease in the hip area.   

The fabric is a 100% cotton and a recent addition. I found it odd that I basically had to wait for the spring/summer fabrics to show up in the store to have a pick of plain white cotton fabric. The saleslady at the fabric store said white cotton fabric is highly sought after for christening gowns. Who knew?

 I can't really say that it was an easy project. I had my share of mishaps. Thankfully, I had extra fabric that I was able to cut another sleeve. Now you would never know all of the sewing errors I made along the way by looking at this shirt. Shhh, our secret.

The four front buttons were stash-busted from the button stash. And I managed to polish off two spools of thread (they weren't new spools). There was a great deal of top-stitching along with hand-stitching in the pattern instructions. I top-stitched the yoke and armhole but decided to leave the collar and cuffs without any top-stitching. 

Happy Sewing!