Military Inspired Archer Shirt

Today I've got a garment to share with you which hasn't turned out as successfully as I hoped but was still an enjoyable project which I learnt a lot from. I spend less time on Pinterest nowadays but still enjoy a browse from time to time and the board I probably pin to most is my Sewing Inspiration board. It's an accumulation of all kinds of things that inspire my sewing, from complete outfits, to fabric, to little details I'd like to incorporate. For the last year or so I've been making more of a conscious effort to look back through these pins and actually make something of them! At the moment I can't stop pinning maxi wrap dresses and solid tops with interesting sleeves. Over a year ago I had a spate of pinning military green shirts in a slightly heavier weight, to be worn open over vests and t-shirts almost as a kind of lightweight jacket.

Around the same time I came across the perfect shade and weight of khaki green oxford cotton in Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road and decided to go for it and make my own. I combined it with the Archer Button Up Shirt from Grainline Studio as it is a pattern I already own plus has all the lovely classic details I was after including two patch breast pockets. I have already used this pattern once, pairing it with some white swiss dot cotton a couple of years ago. That version I felt was a little snug across the bust and at the time I mentioned using the size 4 at the waist and shoulders as I did but grading out to a 6 at the bust. Now my knowledge of fitting has improved I realised that a full bust adjustment would probably do the job better so I spent some time doing this using the size 4 as my starting point. I used this a no dart tutorial (I can't remember which now but here are a few clear ones from Paprika Patterns, Helen and Maria Denmark) and spread my pattern 1cm width ways and 2.5cm downwards. I also added 2cm to the length. I needed almost the full two metres I had to cut this size.

The FBA has helped but I think maybe I should have just gone up a size or even two to achieve the relaxed look I desired. I should have looked more carefully at the relaxed, loose fit of my inspiration pictures and gone more oversized but I think I was tentative as it isn't my usual style. I wish I'd read my previous blog post more thoroughly and remembered that when I made my white version I was keen to have a closer fit than the pattern samples so opted to stick with the smaller of the two sizes I fell between. I think a softer draper fabric would also make a huge difference as both of mine have been quite crisp so stick out below the bust, although this fabric has softened up nicely with a wash.

As well as the general fit of the pattern I don't think the length (or lack of it) is helping. I haven't seen anyone else mention that they felt this pattern came up short but I'm quite petite and do feel like I could do with an extra inch or so. Perhaps I was expecting more of a relaxed fit than it is. The arms also seem strangely short which doesn't bother me as I've been wearing the cuffs rolled up anyway but I would need another inch again to make them the length I prefer.

As you can probably guess from when I found the inspiration and fabric for this project it's been a long time coming! I actually made the majority of this shirt shortly after buying the fabric but things ground to a halt when I came to attach the cuffs. I didn't like the finishing of the slits in the sleeve where the cuff attaches last time as it's just bound and is tricky to get looking neat. This time I wanted to switch in the sleeve placket pieces from the Colette Negroni Shirt pattern as I love the professional look of these and have had great results every time I've made with it. Silly me didn't think through the fact that this style of packet would add a little width to the end of the sleeve so when I came to attach the cuffs I found they were too short to fit.

At the time I lost the patience to cut a new pair of cuffs to fit, despite being so close to finishing and the shirt then sat around for a year before I went back to it again. I don't usually have UFO's on the go (discounting projects I've cut out and not started yet) so this is definitely a record length of project for me; I think I even moved house with it in pieces! This seems silly now as it was of course so quick and easy to recut and interface slightly larger cuffs and I had the whole thing finished within a matter of hours of returning to it. Lesson learned to never leave a project with a step you're dreading as the next one as it will put you off picking it up again!

Anyway enough about what I found tricky about this project, I actually love shirt making and am really pleased with my finishing and what I learnt on this one. The fabric is exactly as I had imagined it and with the closer fit I'm wondering if I might get more wear out of it layered under dungarees which are my new favourite thing! The way this pattern is constructed means it is easy to get a lovely inside finish; I did a good old burrito on the yoke and only needed to overlock the side seams.

I used a lightweight black woven fusible interfacing and would recommend always using a lightweight for shirt plackets even if you use something a bit heavier for your collar as you want to keep that centre front fairly soft so it doesn't do strange things when you sit down. I did all the topstitching in a slightly darker green standard thread rather than thicker topstitching thread as I wanted to keep it subtle. All the topstitching involved in this design is perfect for the utilitarian feel I was going for. I love topstitching so really enjoyed that part of the process. My trick is to make a note of exactly where seam you are topstitching along hits your presser foot or throat plate so you can keep the width even throughout. I try and make it easy for myself by choosing something obvious to line it up with like the edge of the foot. Keep your eyes on that mark when you sew rather than the needle.

Another top tip for shirt making is to invest in a point turner. They're pretty inexpensive but will make such a difference to getting nice crisp corners on your collars, plackets and cuffs. If you haven't got one a chopstick or similar works pretty well too. As always I followed the Four Square Walls tutorial for assembling your collar in a slightly different order and think this is the neatest I have managed yet. The buttons I hit upon I believe in MacCulloch & Wallis and knew they were just what I needed. I wanted to keep them standard shirt size or only very slightly bigger but wanted them to have a practical, heavier duty feel to fit with the military style. These little brass shank buttons make the shirt feel a little more like outerwear.

I've had this finished for a while now and in all honesty it hasn't seen a lot of wear. Now my sewing has improved I feel like if something doesn't feel quite right on and I feel like I could have done a better job of some aspect of it it's not going to win out over some of my other favourite handmade garments when it comes to deciding what to wear in the morning. I do feel like having this kind of shirt in my wardrobe would be handy though so I might revisit this style in the future.