Wednesday 15 July 2015

A Summertime Granville

My springtime Granville shirt has become a real wardrobe staple these past few weeks - it's such a classic style and I really like the fitted, yet comfortable shape. Key word here - comfortable! Everybody knows I'm a giant fan of a super-fitted, collared shirt (if you need proof, see my five versions of Simplicity 4238), but I have to admit, the trillions of darts around the waist do feel a bit restrictive as the day moves on and more and more cakes are consumed. The advantage of the Granville pattern is that there are no waist darts (as opposed to eight in Simplicity 4238!) but you can still achieve a lovely fitted silhouette thanks to the shaped side seams and princess seams on the back bodice. So I decided to make a lightweight, sleeveless version of the Granville shirt to wear during hot, summer days.


The fabric I used was a white Swiss Dot Cotton from Fabric Godmother, which Josie kindly sent me to review. I deliberately chose a very lightweight fabric as I wanted this version to be suitable for hot weather. The fabric is beautifully light, but the flip side is that it's also totally transparent. I'm not a camisole wearer and don't like having a visible bra on display so I knew I'd have to underline the whole shirt. Initially I planned to underline it with silk cotton, but the white silk cotton in my stash is just slightly off white. The Swiss Dot fabric is a bright, brilliant white, so I underlined it with a layer of light cotton muslin which was exactly the same shade. 

The bottom yoke piece is underlined, the top one isn't
You can see from the photo above what a difference there is between a regular pattern piece and one that's been underlined. This solves the transparency issue and because both fabrics are so light, the garment still feels very drapey and breathable.

My scissors struggled a tiny bit cutting through some of the raised 'dots', so make sure yours are nice and sharp if you're working with this fabric. I could also feel the needle going over the dots as I was sewing, but the stitches didn't distort which I was pleased about. I used Entomology Pins throughout, which are great when working with fine fabrics. They are quite long and sharp though, so be careful you don't prick your finger and drip blood! I'm only saying this because as I was completing the final few stitches on this shirt and congratulating myself on avoiding a pricked finger mishap, I realised to my horror that I was having a nosebleed. A nosebleed!! The last time I had a nosebleed was about forty years ago for goodness sake! By an absolute miracle, I managed to avoid dripping blood all over the shirt but I'm not quite sure how. I know it's only a matter of time before I spill a whole plate of tomato sauce right down my front - just you wait!


Back to the sewing - if you're planning a sleeveless Granville yourself, you'll need to make some slight modifications to the armhole and yoke pieces to convert the original pattern to a sleeveless version. This was very simple to do and I used this excellent tutorial from Grainline Studio, which Tasia recommended when she made her own sleeveless version. Sewing this shirt was pretty straight forward and I took my time sewing it which was a good thing - sewing shirts shouldn't be rushed! The step that really flummoxed me last time was sewing the collar, so this time round I tried a different approach and followed Andrea's collar tutorial at Four Square Walls. She constructs the collar in a different order to the instructions, and for me personally, it made a lot more sense and gave a neater, more professional look to the collar. Thanks Andrea!


As the fabric is so lightweight, I spent a bit of time making sure the finish of this shirt was really neat. The side seams and princess seams are French seamed and the armholes are finished with vintage white bias binding - no raw seams on display! I even slip stitched the armhole binding to the underlining so there was no show through on the right side of the shirt. Yep, you read that correctly, hand stitching, through choice! I think the heat was getting to me by this point!

Inside view

Easy to tuck in - yay!
The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that this version of the sleeveless 1950's shirt is also white, so why did I need another? For a start, the two fabrics couldn't be more different - I used a thickish cotton pique for the Simplicity version, which is as stiff as a board. It's a nightmare to launder and get creases out off and is really bulky to tuck in - I noticed this especially during OWOP last September when I was trying to pair it with different garments. I did note then that I needed another white sleeveless shirt in a different fabric, well here it is! I love it - and it's turned out exactly as I hoped.  Happy Wednesday! x



Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.




28 comments:

  1. Very pretty shirt. Cotton sleeveless shirts are so much cooler than tanks and t-shirt if you don't mind ironing a bit. The hand details and finished seams are gorgeous too.

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    1. Thank you! I agree, they're definitely cooler. x

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  2. I really love this shirt and I think this must be the official shirt of summer! I'm also finishing off another sleeveless granville - its such a great fitting shirt :-) - good luck with keeping it white!

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    1. It's a great style for summer isn't it? I think I'll need all the luck in the world keeping it white - I'm famous for tipping things down my front! x

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  3. This little shirt is so fresh and summery looking! You did a wonderful job with it; as usual.

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  4. Beautiful blouse! I keep meaning to make a sleeveless blouse like this for the summer, must add it to my list!

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    1. Sleeveless blouses are perfect for summer - but I'm biased of course! x

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  5. So lovely! I'm working through a muslin of the Granville, hoping I can churn out a bunch of these including some sleeveless ones. I had a difficult time with the collar stand using the instructions. I've had much better success using a different construction method that I think is similar to the one you referenced.

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    1. Good luck with your Granville(s)! Yes, constructing the collar in a different order made a massive difference to me. It just seemed to click in my head! x

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  6. So wonderfully summery with those skirts! I really admire your dedication to 'proper' shirts - I lack the patience/rigour to execute them anything like as well! Luckily I don't really wear them much either, but they suit you so, so much!

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    1. Aw thanks Jo! I do love a proper shirt but you're right, they are a bit of a slog to make! x

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  7. It's very lovely but if it is a Granville shirt, surely it needs a "dangler"? ;-) (Showing my age but I can't help it!!)

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    1. I included a picture of the real 'Granville' in my first post about this shirt (http://www.handmadejane.co.uk/2015/02/a-springtime-granville.html), but now I'm kicking myself for not including a dangler on this version! x

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  8. Lovely shirt, it looks very cool

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  9. I do love the dotty fabric - I have a a Laura Ashley blouse from about twenty years ago in virtually the same. I bought the Granville when it first came out - having seen your lovely blouse I will move it up my a To Do list - thanks off the tips/links.

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    1. Oh yes, you should give the pattern a go. I had to make a few changes to the fit (I'm not a typical Sewaholic shape) but once I got that sorted it's a nice pattern to get your teeth into. I'd definitely recommend reading through the collar tutorial I referenced though and compare it to the instructions - depends how your brain works but I found Andrea's method made much more sense! x

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  10. Now that is one useful wardrobe staple. I have made a navy skirt this week on the same wearability theme. Jo x

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    1. Ah yes, a navy skirt is a perfect wardrobe staple! x

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  11. Love it because of its simplicity and that a white shirt can be so awesome!! Swiss dot! Adorable and sooooo practical!! Xx

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    1. Thanks lovely! The Swiss dots really make it I think. x

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  12. I'm always a sucker for Swiss dots! Great fit, did you use the 'magic button trick' again?

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    1. Thanks! Initially I didn't use the magic button trick as I made sure I sewed the critical button in exactly the right place this time. But.... there was still a bit of gaping so I did end up adding a magic one after its first wear! I think the shirt actually needs a couple of extra buttons than the number stated in the pattern, so that's what I'll do next time. x

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  13. Jane, thats summer perfection in a shirt. The choice of the fabric is really inspired.

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  14. Love this top! Love the shoes too!

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