I’ve had this pattern for awhile. I’d wanted to make View C, which has the big fold over collar, but I didn’t have enough fabric. I used merino wool knit that I bought from Mood fabrics a few years back. Yes, it sat in my stash that long, because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to make with it. I needed a new winter shirt, and I had no money because I was waiting on my disability claim for the past 4 years and being financially supported by my family all that time.
So it was finally time to use that wool knit, but the pattern I had wasn’t in my size range. I graded it up one size and did the most complex FBA I’ve ever done, using the Helen’s Closet method. It worked, and the shirt fits, but as I find with doing an FBA, it adds a lot of fabric in the entire bodice while it expands the bust area. I prefer closer fitting shirts during the winter, because they keep me warmer, and I think that instead of doing an FBA I maybe should’ve tried grading it up one more size and that probably would’ve been enough. If you’d like to see a pic of the FBA, it’s in Day 7 of my 7 Stories post on IG.
Pattern Accuracy
I made View B, the basic turtleneck shirt. I found out the hard way that the neckline was cut too big. The collar doesn’t stand up on it’s own. There could be 2 reasons for this: the FBA added extra fabric to the bodice and weighed down the neckline, making it unable to support the collar correctly. The other reason is the size grading that I did wasn’t required in the neckline area and added too much distance for my neck size. Another possible reason is that the pattern is drafted too large in the neckline to begin with! Maybe they didn’t want makers to complain that the shirt was too tight to pull over the head, so they erred on the side of caution and drafted it larger. One final thought is that the block for View B and D is the same. View D has the large fold over collar, which is more relaxed and less fitted than a turtleneck.
Whatever the reason, the turtleneck collar is floppy and relaxed…not what was promised on the pattern envelope.
It’s not a deal breaker, the shirt is still wearable, but it’s worth mentioning.
Lastly, the sleeves are too long for my personal liking. I might apply a fashion fix to them to remedy that. If I do I’ll post about it. Other than those points, it’s an alright basic shirt. The wool jersey is nice fabric, but it’s actually everrrrr so slightly scratchy! It won’t stop me from buying more though, as I’m sure it’ll be improved upon in the future.
Take care and thanks for reading 🙂
Sewcoordinated 