Chambray Shirting Love
I have finally reached a point where instead of making the latest, greatest, shiniest thing, I’m making wardrobe staples to replace the ill-fitting RTW (Ready-To-Wear) clothes in my closet. It might sound boring to some but I find some of the greatest satisfaction in making clothes I will wear the heck out of and not just for special occasions.
Enter the Sewaholic Granville Shirt: I LOVE this pattern to make shirts for work and so far I’ve made six with more planned.
I desperately needed to replace a striped work shirt that was on its last leg and immediately knew I wanted to use this black and white chambray striped cotton shirting as soon as I saw it. (Looks like it’s just about gone, so check out other options here!)
I made a straight size 10 for the Granville. I love having a pattern where I don’t need to make many modifications! The only thing I changed is shortening the sleeves by one inch.
I don’t have baby T-Rex arms, it’s just that this pattern has unusually long arms (my humble opinion).
The only thing think I’ll do for next time is take in the back seams a little at the waist so it lays flatter against my back – easy enough to tweak!
I salvaged the buttons from that tired old RTW striped shirt and used them for this one. I love doing that with my old shirts as I don’t have to make a trip to the store to get buttons!
This fabric is easy to sew, but just be warned that the stripes can induce dizziness while sewing! I had to take a couple of breaks to rest my eyes but it was definitely worth it for a great quality work shirt I’ll wear for a long time!
I made another shirt, but this time I used the very bright, very beautiful magenta “Greenwich” fine chambray by Robert Kaufman.
Isn’t it stunning?! I am becoming a fan of Robert Kaufman fabrics as documented by yet another Granville I made earlier this year with the RK pepper “vivid” cotton shirting.
Just like the striped chambray shirting, this one was also easy to sew. I use flat-felled seams on my Granvilles so they stand up to lots of wear and tear (and I don’t need to bust out my serger!).
I also used buttons from a RTW shirt that was too worn out for donating:
I am very happy with my new work shirts and am still dreaming of a whole closet full of Granvilles!
What’s your go-to pattern for work wear? Share in the comments!
In the meantime, keep WORKIN’ it!
-RED
You can follow more of Rachel’s adventures in sewing and cat wrangling at sewredy.wordpress.com!
Love all your Granvilles! I’m a huge fan of Tasia’s work (sadly she doesn’t do Sewaholic any more!) and have her cape pattern winging its way to me right now before they are no longer available 🙂 I know you mention you don’t have any adjustments to do (the back looks great) but I would consider an FBA if I were you (the drag lines from the side on your pink suggest it) – I think that would give you an even better fit across the front and back 🙂 Just a thought.
Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate it! I have noticed it pulls there and have played around in my mind with what adjustment I could do. I never thought my bust was full enough (haha) to do an FBA, but I really should try one with my next Granville. I think I was just so excited to have a shirt that fit way better than my RTW ones that I overlooked any minor fitting issues. 😉
Just curious what your busy measurement is. The Granville is next on my sewing list and I’m pretty gun shy about which size to make. Would love to be able to compare.
I’m about 36 1/2 inches – looks like the size 10 may require a full bust adjustment if you’re about that size. I just have big ol’ German muscles hiding under all that skin, too. 😉
Thanks!! I’m gonna have to size up some and probably do an FBA – this terrifies me!! 😱😳
Good luck!
The magenta shirt is so dreamy! The color is amazing. I have some lightweight denim I want to make a button down with. I’m hoping seeing your lovely shirts will inspire me to get my butt in gear!
Thank you! I love the color so much and I have a lipstick that matches it perfectly (not this one). A lightweight denim button down sounds awesome and now you totally have to do it! I await the post. 🙂
Beautiful shirts! That Kaufman chambray is such a gorgeous color, and you wear it so well!
I don’t think there is anything boring about replacing RTW stuff that is critical to your wardrobe with self-made versions. (But maybe that’s because I’m actually boring myself? Hah!) Plus, now you have awesome work shirts that are custom-fit to you, in fabrics you love and got to hand-pick. That’s WAYYYY less boring than just buying something off the rack! 😉
Thanks, Mads! And I totally agree that any “boring” sewing sure beats boring old mall clothes!
Funny story – In a future post I’ll share the shirt I’m wearing today – a short-sleeved pineapple “Hawaiian” shirt Granville. I got the fabric to sneakily almost match DD as he has a store bought pineapple shirt he wears some Fridays. I one-upped him and added pineapple buttons to mine and my shirt is getting way more attention than his today at work, LOL! (Yes, we work in the same office) Sewing your own clothes RAWKS!
OMG that is the best thing I have heard all day! (And how did you even find pineapple buttons?!?!?) Glad you won that battle–can’t have him getting too big for his pineapple-y britches! 😉