Tags
button placket, closet case files, fabric, Fabric stash, idle hands, kalle shirt dress, makers gonna make, March, pattern, seamstress, sewing, sewist, sewmystyle, Sewmystyle2018, shirt, stash, stash busting, yoke
After seeing the patterns for this year for the #sewmystyle challenge, the Kalle shirt dress by Closet Case Files was on my excited to sew list. The pattern has 3 length options, 3 button placket options, and 2 collar choices to really make it your own. You also have the option of purchasing a sleeve add on to make it long sleeved.
In prepping for this project, I decided that I should really stash bust as I purchased fabric the past two months for the challenge. I also did some stash organizing and my totes of fabric are really getting out of control. Unfortunately the fabric that spoke to me did not meet the yardage requirements as indicated on the instructions, but I decided to see if I could squeak it out of a vintage shirting or a chambray that I mysteriously had the same yardage in each. Having under two yards of fabric was going to eliminate some of the pattern options for me and I immediately nixed the two longer length options and went with the shirt. I also decided to skip the regular shirt collar.
Once I had the pattern all together, I traced the required pieces and dry fit them to me. I was worried about the tops length and if it would fit my arms. I’m glad I did this as the top would have been so short, like do not lift your arms short, and if you forget you better have a nice bra on for the world to see. I immediately added on 2 inches to the patterns length. The sleeve/arm cuff situation it has going on would fit my arms as drafted but it does not have the same amount of ease as pictured on the models. I could live with this as I was already pushing if I could use my stash fabric as it was. To help give me some more fabric wiggle room I decided that all the facings and inside yoke would be cut in a similar weight white cotton. The fabric was also going to dictate the placket I would have, so I prepped the placket pieces for my adjusted length to see what would fit. I layed out the pieces of my vintage shirting and was able to get everything to fit along with the hidden placket option. Hurray! This placket was new to me and I wanted to give it a try. So between the shirting fabric and white cotton it all fit.
Next I read the directions. And re-read the directions. Oh boy, I definitely had question marks over my head on the hidden placket. There is also a sew along for this pattern so I then sought it out. Uh, yeah, clear as mud. Anyways, I was able to get enough out of the directions to know what edges to serge and set to it.
This isn’t my first shirt make so I had no problem with the yoke, collar, and facings. But the placket eluded me. So on the dress form my mostly completed shirt went for a good part of March as I avoided the placket. There are not very good markings or directions on which way to fold or accordion the placket to make it hidden. There are also no marks to tell you which way is up or which end attaches to shirt front. They also suggest doing your button holes prior to sewing it to the shirt front. Thank goodness I didn’t do that or I would have been screwed. Turns out I folded and pressed the placket the wrong way. Once I crossed that hurdle, it finished up quick.
Another annoyance I had with the pattern is that I wish the pdf was layered by size and arranged so that you could print only the pieces you needed. On a few of the pieces I definitely could not tell what line I was tracing as they were jammed all together.
But all in all, now that it is done I am happy with my shirt.
With my scraps I also squeezed out a head band to match. My stash is getting out of hand and I hold on to scraps as I feel bad throwing them out. Any suggestions or patterns out there you like that use up scraps?
As an aside, I recently was given enough yardage of a lovely gingham to make a sleeved Kalle shirt dress. I don’t think I would purchase gingham on my own but I found some inspiration photos of gingham shirt dresses that I liked so I am working on making myself another version of the Kalle. I am also adding a drawstring belt to it that I saw on instagram. All these different inspiration sources has me wondering if I should organize my Pinterest and share it. What do you think? Share my Pinterest addiction?