Shirt from Vogue 2634 (long sleeve version)

This is the second part of my shirt-making endeavours, but now with long sleeves. I made the version C, which has two patch pockets.

I used a very light viscose, it makes the shirt almost float. But it has its drawbacks: it is quite delicate so I did the edgestitching manually (moving the needle slowly by hand instead of using the foot pedal) around corners and in narrow areas on the collar and when stitching multiple layers to avoid breaking the thin needle.

It's noticeable how thin this fabric is around the buttonholes; they puckered a lot, although it's disguised thanks to the busy pattern. Next time, interfacing!

Shirt from Vogue 2634

This shirt is a quick version based on view d, sleeveless and without pockets, which I might add some day. I was looking for something that I could wear on a daily basis to work. I was getting a bit bored of the usual cheap stripy blouses.

This pattern was a bit tricky at times, for instance, how to sew the collar and the armholes facings without the aid of the detailed instructions found in beginner's books. When I cut the collar pieces, I had to trim them to avoid looking like Harry Hill (great comedian, by the way). This little adjustment caused me some confusion because nothing matched! I managed to fit them thanks to online videos and some unpicking.

The armholes diagram in the pattern wasn't that clear, the facings had to be attached and trimmed but then I wasn't sure how to go on to attach the remaining part, so there is a bit of puckering on the sides, which doesn't look that bad; it seems like gathering and is also partially hidden in the underarm area.

One of the things I feel most satisfied with is the buttonholes. It's something I've been putting off for a while but they are not that complicated at all; you just need a good practice, about half a dozen or so in a scrap of fabric and that's it. My sewing machine (Singer 8280) has three settings (two for the long vertical sides and one for the short horizontal ones at the bottom and top), so the only thing to adjust is the stitch length (how close together the stitches are). A great tip from the basics book I have is to open the buttonholes from the side towards the center to avoid cutting through the stitches. I then attached the buttons by hand, which were recycled from an old shirt.

As the pattern says, it's a loose fit, and once I put it on I found that I prefer to have darts, to give some shape. I'll try, though, other views with long sleeves, more useful for the winter, and possibly the long one (view a) in knit fabric for a sort of jacket to wear at home.

Anda dress (Burda)

The Anda dress was my first attempt at commercial patterns, I was looking for something really easy and getting it online as a PDF seemed fairly straightforward and cheaper than in paper. It's a sleeveless dress with a gathered waist, not complicated at all, but I struggled at times with the instructions.

The facing on the sleeves was not very clear to me, so after checking a few tutorials I ended up doing a bias binding that doesn't show on the outside, which looks almost professional. It's quite different from how I had attached it in the apron. Another thing that I'm not entirely sure about is the final shape of the sleeves, the front and back in the lower side are joined in a v-shape, rather than round, although it's not a major concern, as it's hardly noticeable under my arms.

The pattern fit is certainly wide, so there is not much point in spending time adapting it as long as the bust size is right. Finally, something I would change is the neck. I found it a bit narrow, just enough to get my head through.