Summer Shirt |

I’m still catching up with all my makes from a big chunk of this year! This is obvs one of my Summer makes, and I love it. I wore it on my holiday and have worn it a good few times – can’t wait for it to be warm enough to wear again next year!

This is, of course, the Closet Core Patterns Kalle Shirt. I always make the size 6 and I like that there’s plenty of ease as I like loose clothing – especially when it’s hot!

As soon as I saw the fabric on Sew Me Sunshine’s website, I knew I had to buy it! It’s all my favourite colours – shades of blue, mustard and pink! I was a bit scared to cut into it when I cut out the shirt, because I didn’t want to ruin it because it’s so lovely. I pattern matched the pockets, too, which is one of my fav things to do when making a shirt. I’m not the best at pattern matching in general but I can match pockets pretty well at this point!

I will forever love the swoopey hem of the Kalle! And the huge pleat in the back. Plus it’s a slightly easier to sew a shirt with short sleeves as you don’t have to do the whole plackets/cuffs situation. And bonus, it goes well with both pairs of my double gauze Arden pants, navy and mustard. Oh, and I used some pink buttons from my stash which match the shade of pink perfectly.

Sometimes I decide to make a thing and then find the fabric, and sometimes I buy the fabric and then decide which pattern to use. I was pretty sure this was going to be a shirt when I bought it (what else, lol!) but it took a while for me to decide which shirt pattern to make. I was tempted to make the Gilbert, but I’m glad I went with the Kalle!

How to you decide on your projects? Are you pattern first, fabric first, or a combination like me?

I can’t quite believe it has taken me so long to make a Helen’s Closet Gilbert Shirt/Top! Because a) I love her patterns and b) I love making (and wearing shirts). She had the pattern on sale last month (I think) and I finally bought it and I’m so glad I did! I’ve made 2 so far and will probably be on the lookout for good summery cottony fabrics to make more for next Summer (or this year, you never know!?).

I made the size 8, which is 2 sizes bigger than my measurements put me on the size chart because I wanted a loose, slouchy fit. I maybe could have narrowed the shoulders slightly, but I think it’s just because this fabric is such a stiff cotton they stand a little proud of my actual shoulders!

I also removed the darts because I didn’t want it to have a ‘feminine’ fit. Helen has 2 different methods for doing this on her blog or instagram (I can’t remember which, sorry!). I did the easy method of making the size seam straight and taking the depth of the dart off the hem. I made sure the 2 side seams matched and fiddled around until it worked. I’m sure the ‘proper’ method would have had better, more accurate results but I wanted to make one asap!

The fabric is some very thick, quite stiff cotton, which my ex brother and sister in law bought me years ago. I always kept it in my stash, thinking ‘I’m sure the right project will come along eventually’ and I’m so glad I kept hold of it now as I’m not sure there’s a more perfect pattern than the Gilbert!

I’m not sure how much fabric there was – maybe 2 metres but it was very narrow so once I’d cut everything out, there were pretty much only some big-ish scraps. But I did have enough to cut out a matching, disguised pocket! I’m not by any means a pattern matching expert (understatement of the century!) but I do enjoy an invisible pocket when I have an obvious print going on!

As with all of Helen’s Closet’s patterns, the instructions (and drafting) are second to none. It’s my first time making a new pattern in a while and I had no problems. I’ve made a few pairs of Carolyn Pyjamas in my time and I think the construction for the Gilbert is better – though it does have the advantage of yokes, which help to enclose all the seams. I would definitely recommend this pattern if you’re looking for a foray into shirt making, but without some of the tricky details like cuffs and the collar/collar stand kind of collar. This would be a good way to build up your confidence, if you’re scared of full on shirt-making – though I think everyone can make a shirt. As with everything, it’s just one step after another. Straight lines and the occasional curved line. Easy!

Do you have any recommendations of anywhere to get some fun cotton prints? Or I also think this would look great in a slightly more drapey fabric even! I also think it would look great worn open over a vest/tee! The possibilities are endless!