Hybrid Shirt: McCall's 7904

I've been on the hunt for a comfortable white shirt for quite some time. It's been challenging getting to this point because of my specific wants and needs for this item. Of course, fit is key and finding a shirt pattern that fits has been almost as difficult as fitting pants. When you're short petite there is always some adjustments to be made.

My "perfect shirt" criteria

1.  It must have a collar band and collar.
2.  Sleeve placket and pleats.  No gathers at the cuff.  
3.  A long sleeve that fits my petite arms without having to push or roll them up.  
4.  No cheaping out on the quantity of buttons.  
5.  No dropped shoulders.
6.  No chest pockets.
7.  No pulling across the mid-section and hip area while still fitting in the bust.  
8.  Made out of white cotton or linen fabric.  

And I now have my perfect shirt.  

The Pattern(s)

I found McCall's 7904 to be an intriguing option with the loose-fitting description and I did like that it offered hemline variations. I was, however, looking for a pattern for a basic white shirt that would provide enough ease around my mid-section so I didn't play around with one of the asymmetrical hemlines this time around. I also liked the tissue fitting method advertised on the pattern envelope. This is a great pattern for anyone who may need pattern adjustments before cutting out their fashion fabric. There are pattern markings to make a sway back adjustment, something that I've never seen on a commercial pattern before. It even has markings if you need to do broad shoulder or bust adjustments to the pattern. And I really enjoyed the pro tips offered in the instructions. Even though this pattern is rated average, I would recommend it for a beginner skill level since the instructions are thoughtfully written.  

Vogue 1503 sleeve pattern. 

I wasn't sold on the design of the sleeves though. I'm not a fan of a gathered sleeve into the cuff and after sewing Vogue 9329, I didn't want to sew another back sleeve seam detail. Instead, I swapped sleeve and cuff pattern pieces with Vogue 1503 and sewed a sleeve placket with sleeve pleats. So this is what makes it my hybrid shirt made using pattern pieces from McCall's 7904 and Vogue 1503.

The Fabric

This is a cotton fabric with some stretch and it was the last of the bolt found at Northwest Fabrics. The fabric was pretreated with a machine wash and tumble through the dryer. I don't think I will be putting the finished shirt in the dryer in the future though. I think I will just let it hang dry and give it a press. It handled pressing at the cotton setting without any issues.  

The Stats

Fabric:  2 metres 

Interfacing:  1.6 metres (fusible interfacing)

Buttons:  11 

Patterns:  McCall's 7904 and Vogue 1503

Tools & Additional Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, scissors, thread clippers, sewing machine, walking foot, buttonhole foot, buttonhole cutter, tailor's wax, serger, coverstitch needle, tweezers, screwdriver, hand sewing needle and tea.  

Happy Sewing!

My day of sewing mishaps...

Today was the day that I was going to spend some quality time at the sewing machine and tackle the Burda Style pattern #7489 with fingers crossed that the sizing will work out.  I should have also crossed my toes that the sewing would work out.

I interfaced the front, back and sleeve facing pieces and got to work.  My first mistake that I discovered was that I cut the centre front instead of placing it on the fold.  I don't even know what I was thinking when I made that error.

Luckily, using the narrowest seam allowance that I could get away with and finishing the edge, it worked out fine.  The front seam is hidden within a front pleat.  Potential disaster adverted.

This is me making my second error, clueless to this  fact when the picture was taken.  It is the front facing being sewn and do you notice that there is quite a bit of excess fabric beyond the placket corners?

For some reason, lack of coffee is my defense, I didn't clue in that I was in the process of sewing the placket band on the wrong side of the front and marked the placket band with chalk.

Thankfully, I didn't cut what I thought was excess fabric at that point!  Some quality time seam ripping my mistake while the coffee was settling in the bodum and I was set to tackle the project again.  After enjoying the cup of java, I repositioned the facing and the placket worked out nicely.

So this is it so far, almost done.  I just have to hand-stitch the sleeve facing in place and I think I will add a couple of snaps to the lower part of the placket.

There is a scene in How I Met your Mother where Lily tries to explain "I know it's a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake and look back and say 'yep, that was a mistake.'  So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because"... this is where I interrupt ... 

... well because despite my initial near disasters, it turned out fine, just fine.  And the size worked out too!  And how boring would sewing be if you didn't have some seam ripping thrown in to reflect on the process?