Fabric Makes All of the Difference

I have a lot of button down shirt patterns in the pattern stash. Each one purchased for a different reason, idea and/or dream. Lately I've wanted to make a couple of them. I found an out-of-print (OOP) Vogue 7700 in the stash recently...and I loved it...until I looked at the line drawings closely and realized it had dropped shoulders. I don't really like dropped shoulders on anything but I loved the yoke and gathered back on the pattern.

Butterick 5678

So I decided that I would mash up my tried 'n true (TNT) blouse pattern - Butterick 5678 and Vogue 7700. This gives me the fitted princess seam look on the front and the flowy artist type smock look on the back that I wanted. I'm always looking for comfortable, flowy types of button up shirts and/or tunics to wear alone or with a cardigan.

OOP Vogue 7700

At first I really wanted a couple of white blouses but I decided that I have so many colored and patterned shirtings in my fabric collection, that I would go with one of them. I chose these two shirtings from Fabric Mart (really did you have to ask where they came from? LOL!)

One is a cotton shirting I bought from Fabric Mart years ago when they were running a sale on shirtings.  The sticker says I bought 3 yards for $4 a yard. My second choice is a Cotton & Steel cotton I bought during my Christmas vacay, directly from Fabric Mart's brick 'n mortar store. It's one of the pre-cuts, 4 yards for $1 a yard.

Pattern Alterations ~
The biggest change was to the back of the shirt because I love the full gathered back of Vogue 7700. It was what I wanted to incorporate into Butterick 5678. The princess seams on the front will give it a tailored look and the swingy back will give the button down a more casual look.

So I made a pattern sandwich (original back, yoke back from V7700 and a new piece of tracing paper) and I made a yoke back that would match the neckline and shoulders of B5678. 

Then I altered the gathered back piece. The original had a dip which I filled in because I wanted a seam straight across my back. I also changed the armhole so it would match the B5678 one. Especially since I'm still using the B5678 sleeve.

Construction Deets ~
Seeing that I was mashing the patterns I used the Butterick directions for the front. This was my sewing process:

Button down Body:
1. Serge finish the cut out pieces.
2. Sew the back yoke to the back piece and set aside.
3. Sew the princess seams of the front.
4. Stitch the front pieces to the back pieces at the shoulder seams.

Collar and Collar Stand:
For the Cotton & Steel one, I made the collar and collar stand as the pattern suggests, just topstitching everything before adding it to the body of the shirt.

Sleeves and Finishing the Button down:
a. When I cut the sleeves out I added a little extra to the side seams (without messing with the sleeve cap) to give the sleeve a little more room.

b. Then I changed the cuffs from regular cuffs with a button to a solid cuff that you slip your hand through. I took pictures of the process they will be in the next blog post.

c. The cotton button down has a double hem and buttons & button holes.

A few pictures of the Cotton & Steel Mashup ~

After making the first version, I realized the shirt would work better in a flowy type fabric. The cotton version is okay but it lacks the drape that I wanted. So I chose another one of my pre-cuts to make a second version.

I used a polyester crepe pre-cut from Fabric Mart for this one because I'm in love with the pre-cuts from Fabric Mart. I may have bought a few more when they were on sale for 60% off! LOL!

Things I changed for the second one ~

1. I lengthened the back yoke piece by 1". It seemed short on the original version. 
2. I added 5/8" to the cuff because I added piping to the cuff.
3. I added piping to the collar of this version to break up some of the pattern.
4. In the first version the back was longer than the front piece. So I cut 3" off the back to make it work.
5. For this one, I lengthened the front pieces by 3" so the finished top would be tunic length and match the unaltered back piece.
6. I also took in 1/2" on each front princess seam from the waistline down to make the bottom front a little more fitted. While the loose fit worked with the sturdier fabric, it was a little too much drape with the drapier fabric.
7. The sleeves were widened to give them a little more flare before gathering them into the cuff.

8. Piping was added to both ends of the cuff and then gathered into the sleeve.
9. The shirt was hemmed by turning it up 1/2" and topstitching. Then buttonholes and white buttons from the collection were added.

The button down in action ~

A picture of the two shirts side by side ~ 

Conclusion ~
I know that I used out of print patterns for these makes.  However, both of these patterns are readily available on the internet for purchase. I don't know if there are any patterns with these features currently in the pattern books, though. 

I have to admit that I love the blue and white one more. It has the length and drape that I want. Also the piping takes the design up a notch. I loved it so much that I immediately pulled out more fabric to make a couple more button downs.  

Another like is how the mash-up looks on me. Tailored in the front with some flare in the back which really works for my body type. And since I've been sewing multiples lately, why not three or four instead of just two!

...as always more later!