Chambray Kalle Shirt

I've had my beady eye on the Closet Case Files Kalle pattern ever since it was released. Despite being loose fitting, the body skimming silhouette really does seem to flatter all shapes so I convinced myself to step out of my usual fitted shirt comfort zone and give it a go. Two versions I've been particularly swooning over are Sallie's tencel denim shirtdress and Lauren's cute cropped shirt version.

The pattern comes in three lengths: cropped, tunic or shirtdress, with a multitude of options for the collar, placket and back pleat. I decided on a mixture of Views A and C - the faced hem and inverted pleat of view A and the traditional collar and button placket of view C.

I also thought long and hard about which size to cut as there's a lot of ease in this pattern. I was sorely tempted to size down, but after reading a few reviews I cut the correct size for my measurements (size 8) to ensure a good fit across the shoulders. I added 2.5" length to the back piece and 5" to the front piece and button band as the original cropped length of View A is very cropped. I'll lengthen the front piece even more next time as my bust makes the shirt ride up a bit higher than I'd like.

The only other adjustment I made was to overlap the back pleat 1" along the fold line - this reduces quite a bit of fullness in the back. If you do this, and you're making View A, don't forget to also adjust your back hem facing piece as it will be too wide if you don't. Ask me how I know...

The instructions are reasonably comprehensive and there's also a Kalle sewalong on the blog which goes through all the trickier steps in greater detail. I'll admit, I did need to refer to the sewalong for the yoke (my mind went blank, even though I've sewn 'burrito' yokes loads of times!) I also needed it for the sleeve cuffs - they're not particularly complicated to sew, but I think the instructions would have benefited from a few more diagrams. I had no problem with the collar however as the pattern uses my favourite Four Square Walls method for construction. There's even a separate smaller pattern piece for the under collar so you don't need to trim it down, hoorah!

I've now made several traditional shirts/shirtdresses with collars, but for some reason I still find the process quite daunting. This time I was determined to enjoy it, so I broke the construction down into five achievable chunks: button plackets, yoke, hem facing, collar and sleeve cuffs. It worked a treat - each chunk is substantial but not too overwhelming and you can see real progress at the end of each stage. I struggled most with the facing, probably because of the accuracy needed to get a clean, sharp finish around the curved hem. It's not my best work - mine isn't as clean and sharp as I'd like and there's still a bit of rippling along the hem, but I can live with it.

I also managed to avoid a whole construction step (buttons and buttonholes) by paying a quick visit to DM Buttons in Soho and getting them to add snaps for me! With hindsight I should have added one to the hem/facing area as well as it has a tendency to gape open. Never mind.

Eight snaps for a fiver, bargain!

For fabric I blatantly copied Sallie and made my Kalle shirt in a tencel chambray. As far as I can gather from a quick Google search, tencel (or lyocell as it's sometimes known) is a sustainable fabric made from wood cellulose, very similar in drape and feel to rayon. I'd agree with this as the chambray I used was not like chambray I've sewn with in the past. The depth of colour, the drape and the soft feel of the fabric are all noticeably different (in a good way) to a standard chambray.

I found it quite difficult to source tencel in the UK and eventually tracked some down at German based myfabrics.co.uk. I've had a long standing offer from the company to try out one of their fabrics and this seemed like the perfect time to take them up on it. The fabric arrived promptly and was even nicer than I'd envisaged. It washes and presses well and even though it has a similar drape to rayon I found it slightly easier to handle and sew as it doesn't shift around quite as much. It does, however, fray and shed fibres as soon as you look at it, so I was mightily relieved when all seams were concealed or finished. I should also point out that I had to lighten these photos (it was a dreary day when they were taken) so the blue colour of the fabric isn't as bright in real life.

Overall I like the finished Kalle shirt. The relaxed fit will take some getting used to, purely because it's so different to all the other shirts in my wardrobe. But on the flip side, it's really comfortable to wear so I think that's going to make it quite popular! x

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

Nautical print Granville shirt

My lightweight #2017makenine pledge is actually going rather well (lightweight in the sense that mine is actually #2017makesix...). I've made the Capital Chic Sangria dress and two versions of the Sew Over It Heather dress. My latest finished garment takes the tally up to three, although it's a slight deviation from the original idea. I'd planned to make a Deer and Doe Melilot Shirt using some nautical viscose twill from my stash. Well, the stash fabric got used, but I decided to use an old favourite rather than starting from scratch with a new-to-me pattern. The pattern I used was the Sewaholic Granville shirt which I've sewn three times before (here, here and here). It was already adjusted to fit, so my plan was to just cut out the fabric and start sewing. It didn't quite work out that way though...

I have no qualms with the pattern: I love using it and always get good results. No, the baddie in this particular saga happened to be the fabric - it was an absolute nightmare. The culprit was a viscose twill with a lovely drape and slight sheen from Fabric Godmother (no longer in stock). The problem was it had so much drape it was barely usable. The first sign that all was not well was when I tried to iron it after pre-washing - it wouldn't stay on the ironing board and kept sliding off. I then sprayed it to within an inch of its life with spray starch. This stiffened the fabric sufficiently for me to cut the pattern pieces out, but it was still slippery as hell. The texture was horrible to work with too, a bit like having an entire garment made from grosgrain ribbon. I put the finished shirt through a rinse cycle in the washing machine, but I'm not entirely convinced all the starch has been removed as the texture is still a bit weird. Hopefully it will settle down after another wash.

Spot the sailor boys...

The reason I'd fallen for the fabric in the first place was the design: from afar it looks like a ditsy floral, but it's actually a nautical theme. Anchors, yachts, flags and, wait for it... sailor boys! Adorable as those sailor boys are, they're not cute enough to make me want to work with this fabric ever again. I was actually quite resentful of it by the time I'd finished, which was a shame as I loved it when I first bought it and it certainly wasn't cheap (£17 a metre).

On a brighter note, having made it several times before, construction was a breeze. The only time I ventured away from the instructions was to construct the collar - I used the Four Square Walls method which I prefer. If I were to make this shirt again (highly likely), the one thing I'd change would be to increase the size of the full bust adjustment as it's a tiny bit snug across the bust.

After grappling with the fabric for what felt like months, I knew any kind of buttonhole mishap would nudge me over the edge, so I got the buttonholes made at D M Buttons in Soho. I added a couple more (well why not, if somebody else is making them?!) which was a sensible move. All my other versions have had to have secret buttons added to the inside to prevent gaping but this one seems to be fine so far. I personally don't think there are enough buttons specified in the pattern, so if you're thinking of making it I'd recommend adding a couple more. The buttons are lovely metal ones from the button shop in Berlin - I like how they pop against all the red, white and blue.

The shirt has already had its first full day's outing: a meeting with sewing pals to welcome Tasha and partner Mel to London last weekend.

Outside Sew Over It

With beautiful Roisin

Looking slightly crazed with a cocktail

It was the perfect choice for walking around visiting fabric shops and sitting in the pub, but still felt just about dressy enough for cocktails later. I almost forgave the fabric for being such a bitch to work with. Almost. Happy Sunday! x

Red Coat: Tutorials and Resources

Thank you all for such generous and encouraging comments on my red coat - it was wonderful to read such positive feedback! As promised, this next post will focus on the tutorials, supplies and resources that I found so helpful whilst making the coat.

If you're thinking of trying the pattern (McCalls 7058) then I'd highly recommend you read Manju's excellent review. I picked up some really useful tips from her blog post, including the idea of adding a flannel underlining for extra warmth. To attach the underlining, I followed Manju's method of machining the flannel to the pattern pieces with a half inch seam allowance, then trimming back as far as I could down to the stitching line. I also removed the flannel from the hem allowance before hemming to reduce bulk.

Flannel underlining trimmed back to stitching line

For interfacing I used Washable Supersoft interfacing from English Couture, which is a perfect weight for the wool. I also purchased my sleeve heads from English Couture and inserted them using this method by Poppy Kettle. If you want to make your own sleeve heads, the tutorial also shows you how. I'd never used sleeve heads before and the result is subtle, but definitely worth it.

Sleeve without sleeve head

Sleeve with sleeve head

The dimpled, slightly collapsed look of the sleeves is now supported well and takes on a more rounded, tailored look.

Underlined, interfaced and with sleeve heads added. 

Once all the laborious work of underlining, interfacing, pressing etc had been done, it was time to add the lining. The instructions have you attach the lining around the facing and collar by machine, then hand sew the sleeves hems and coat hems, but I was keen to machine everything. This was partly laziness, but also because I find linings that are machined in place tend to be more robust than hand sewn ones, however neatly and carefully you sew them. If you're thinking of bagging a lining, then I'd highly recommend the following tutorials. Between the two of them they really do cover everything you can think of:

How to Bag a Jacket Lining on the Grainline blog
Bagging a Coat Lining which is part of the Clare Coat Sewalong on Closet Case Files

The basic technique on the Grainline blog is very straight forward and that's essentially what I did to bag the lining. The Clare Coat sew along post also has some excellent additional tips which I used to ensure as professional a finish as I could. For example, the traditional method of turning the coat the right way round is to pull it through a gap in one of the sleeve seams. A woollen coat, completely underlined in flannel, with interfacing and lining is thick and unwieldy and the thought of trying to turn the entire thing out through such a tiny gap filled me with horror. Heather's tip was to leave a generous gap in the lining hem instead, then catch stitch it closed at the end. This made far more sense to me and the whole process was a lot easier as a result. To help anchor the lining to the coat, I added a threadchain to the underarm seam to link them together. I used the Susan Khalje tutorial for the threadchain as recommended in the Clare Coat tutorial and it worked a treat.

I'd originally planned to use giant snaps as closures, but had a last minute disaster change of heart and had to use buttons instead. I actually spent two hours sewing all the snaps into position before deciding they didn't look right (sigh). It was annoying, but I'd invested so much time and effort into making this coat I figured an extra week's delay wasn't going to make much difference. The problem was that my interfaced and underlined coat edges wouldn't even fit underneath my buttonhole foot, so there was no way I could even contemplate sewing buttonholes unless I made them by hand. Er no, I decided to pay a visit to D M Buttons in Soho to have some professionally made instead.

I'd read about the company on a few sewing blogs, but never actually used them myself. The whole process couldn't have been easier: I left my coat with owner David and went to get my hair cut, when I returned an hour or so later, my coat had six perfect buttonholes! They looked so much more professional than anything I could have produced on my own machine. I didn't need to do much prep either, just marked the buttonhole positions on the right side of the fabric beforehand and brought along one of my buttons for reference. And the best bit? The price - just £4.00 for six! I'm never making my own buttonholes again!

One final thing I should mention is my new Tailor's Clapper, which I found invaluable during the pressing process. My wool was quite hefty and really not interested in lying flat along the seam lines. After a lengthy session at the ironing board, using the clapper and a LOT of steam, those seams were as flat as pancakes. If you're unsure about using a clapper, watch this short video from Did You Make That. Before your very eyes you'll see a springy, unruly piece of crepe being magically flattened into submission by a steam iron and a lump of wood!

I know some of you were interested to see how much this coat actually cost me to make. It wasn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but infinitely cheaper than a comparable RTW coat made with designer Italian wool! Thread, vintage buttons and sleeve heads were all from my stash, so I'm not including them in the cost. 

Pattern: McCall's 7058  £8.75

Main coat fabric: two metres of red Italian wool twill from Fabric Godmother:  £52.00

Lining fabric: two metres of steel blue lining fabric from Ditto Fabrics: £8.00

Interfacing: one metre of Washable Supersoft Interfacing from English Couture: £6.75

Interlining: two metres of pyjama flannel from eBay: £6.80

Finishing Touches 

Six buttonholes made by DM Buttons: £4.00

Professional press at dry cleaners: £8.00
TOTAL   £94.30

I'm delighted with the final coat (pictures of me prancing around in it can be seen here!) and pleased I took the time to finish everything properly. What I also found really heartening was the fact that so many wonderful free resources were there to help me at the click of a mouse. So I'd just like to say an enormous THANK YOU to all the generous sewing bloggers and authors mentioned in this post for sharing their knowledge. Believe me, it's very much appreciated! x