Everyone needs a white shirt, right?

I always knew that I was going to add a white shirt to this collection of shirts. I just couldn't decide if I wanted a classic white shirt or my TNT version with the gathered back. After some thought I went with both...I mean why not? I have the fabric and notions to create both shirts!

Materials ~
White cotton poly/lycra blend purchased from Metro Textiles 
(I bought 10 yards of this so I could make a couple of white shirts)

7 - 1/2" shell buttons from the collection for the sleeveless shirt

10 - 1/2" novelty buttons from the collection for Poet's Blouse/Shirt

A Classic White Sleeveless Shirt ~
I used the same pattern pieces that I used to make the Orange Mizrahi inspired shirt for this one. I was happy sewing it and spent all day working on it. Topstitching all the seams and getting all the details right. 

(Like adding lace to my label before adding to the back yoke)

Then I hung it up for the evening vowing to finish it during the week. When I went back and looked at it, I realized that I really liked it sleeveless. That it would work well under cardigans and jackets for spring cause spring is finally here. So my classic white shirt turned into a sleeveless white shirt.

Construction Techniques ~
- I hemmed it using a 5/8" hem allowance. 
- I bound the armholes with a 1" twill tape I had in the notions stash. 
- Then added buttonholes and some shell buttons again from the stash.

Pictures of the finished top ~
The first pictures are of me wearing the shirt with a jacket that I made in 2011. This is how I will most likely wear the shirt. The jacket is from a floral cotton sateen and you can read all about it's construction here.

Some pictures of the shirt alone ~

A White Poet's Blouse/Shirt ~ 
I really wanted this one to be more of an artiste's type shirt with a looser fit.

Construction & Design ~
a. I cut the sleeves larger than normal by 4-5" - I freestyled this alteration.
b. A longer cuff was made by not folding the cuff in half. The edge was finished by topstitching it flat. 
c. The back was cut a little wider to give the shirt a looser fit.
d. I used these funky novelty buttons for the front of the shirt to add to the artiste flair!
e. An eyelet fabric was used for the inside yoke to add interest to it.

Otherwise this shirt was constructed exactly as I made my other back yoked shirts with the looser fit. With my first shirts I pulled the gathering threads by hand. For this one I used my new gathering foot which you can see in action here. If you can buy a gathering foot for your sewing machine, I highly recommend it!

A few pictures of the shirt:

Conclusion ~
I now have two wonderful white blouses with two separate personalities to add to my wardrobe. But what thrills me most is that everything to make these shirts came from my collection. With these last two, I've made 15 shirts in the last couple of years and highlighted 8 new makes for Shirt Month. 

Now that the weather is finally warming up this is a good place to stop and move onto other garments. That's not to say you might now see another shirt or two made during this spring/summer since I have loads of shirting fabrics still in the collection. There will definitely be more shirts made come fall since this is a silhouette that I really enjoy wearing and making.

I know that in my last post I said that I would share a shirt making tips post and that will be up in the next couple of days followed by a wrap up post for Shirt Month. 

...as always more later!