Inspired by Carolina Herrera

This is one of the shirts I took to Sew Camp and finished most of the construction there. However, I still needed to do a little bit of work to it when I got home. I was inspired by this ad I saw on Instagram. Now while the ad is actually featuring the purse, I was drawn to the shirt the model is wearing, and added it to my "shirt sewing" list.

I love the detail of sewing shirts. The many components, how the silhouette can be changed, how fabric can alter the look and especially how I can add my own touches to make each one individually mine. Cause seriously there are tons of shirt patterns out there but what makes each shirt yours?  The details you add to it of course.

Fabric & Findings ~
The fabric for the shirt is from Fabric Mart and was also purchased during one of the 60% off shirting sales. The accents are white shirting from the 10 yards I purchased from Metro Textiles.  Buttons are from Pacific Trimmings. I checked the collection and had some that would work. However, I needed to get some for a shirt I'm currently working on and stumbled upon these which I liked better. Since they were just 25 cents a piece (12 for $3) and it's the only expense I'm incurring for the shirt, I bought them. 

Construction and Design ~

• This is the third shirt in the series where I've changed the front bands, collars and cuffs. It's a detail I really like playing with. 
• Originally I wanted a chevron stripe on the back yoke but when I sewed it together it didn't work. 
• So I went with the horizontal striped yoke I'd cut for the inside of the shirt and switched the mismatched yoke to the inside. 
• When I went to put my label on the yoke, it disappeared. As I looked down into the trash box under the ironing board, I saw a scrap of Kisha's mustard stripe fabric. 
• I really like the dichotomy of the black 'n white stripe and the mustard stripe together so I sewed my label to it. 
• Then I sewed that to the yoke. It's the kind of interesting detail I really like to add to my garments and it also adds a little Kisha to the shirt!

After this one hung for awhile, I realized that I used such a conservative fabric for it that I wanted some of the "shirt" details back...so I curved the hemline to make it more shirt-like. ALL of my other versions have a straight hemline but for this one I wanted something different.

Since I'd cut the shirt originally with the straight hemline, I needed to make a change to the shirt get the new curved hem I desired. I used the original shirt pattern piece to mark the curved hemline. 

The other change to this shirt is a back pleat again to give it a more conservative look. Otherwise the shirt is sewn exactly as it's predecessors were.

A few photos of the shirt ~

Sewing Tip ~
When sewing the sleeve in I add a second row of stitching from underarm notch to underarm notch over the original stitching. I usually have the most stress on my underarm seam and by adding another row of stitching I reduce the possibility of a seam popping.

Wearability Factor ~
While this shirt looks good in photos and in person, the fabric is a little suspect. It doesn't feel or handle like a typical shirting. It actually feels a little plastic-y.  (not a word I know) Now while I like the white collar and cuffs, the pleat doesn't work in the back of this shirt because it emphasizes my backside. The gathered back doesn't do this, so I won't be using this design detail going forward. While the shirt isn't a fail, it is a disappointing wear for all of the work that went into it.

Conclusion ~
This is the fifth shirt in my shirt sewing extravangza. I have a few more to share and make before the month is over. Hopefully you are enjoying the series, if not come back in May where there will be a bunch of other garment posts!

...as always more later!