Tuesday, April 21, 2015

McCalls 6649

One of my sewing aims this year was to make a button up shirt that fits really well and then use it as a base for all sorts of shirts. I have a large stack of shirt patterns I want to try. Earlier this year I tried McCalls 6436. I made the big mistake of only making a muslin which didn't include sleeves so it is slightly too tight across the sleeves. I was so annoyed with myself I haven't taken pictures yet, but I will pull it out and take some soon.
 When I signed up for the Blouses - One Pattern, Many Looks course on Craftsy it came with McCalls 6649 so I thought I would try it next. I love how both of these come with different front pieces for different cup sizes so I didn't have to do a FBA.
I kind of tissue fit it/measured it/had a few guesses and made the following changes:
  • shortened the sleeve length
  • narrowed the cuff length
  • made a full arm adjustment
  • lowered the neck line slightly at the back and side and a tiny bit more at the front.
  • Narrowed the collar a tiny bit and lengthened it and the collar band to compensate for lowering the neckline.
I am pretty happy with how it fits. I wore it for a day and found it very comfortable.
 The back is not too bad, it could do minor adjustments. I think I might try one with no darts at all in the back next time.
I love the colour and pattern on this fabric I found at Spotlight, but I'm not a fan of how it feels. Maybe I am a bit spoilt by sewing shirts for Chris from Liberty and other nice shirt fabrics.
 Now I need to spend some time to turn the pattern into a sloper and watch the rest of the Craftsy course and learn what I can do with it.


6 comments:

Oaklaurel said...

Hi! Great job. I have a collared shirt on my wish list of todos. Was the craftsy class helpful? Would you recommend it.?

Kate said...

Hi Sandi it was great to learn how to alter a pattern, but it doesn't cover construction or fitting. There is a great class on shirt construction and several other ones on different fitting methods.

motherof5 said...

You did a great job!
I want to do the same, find a nice shirt pattern and work from there.
Awesome hair colour too.

formandreform said...

You did such a beautiful job! And it's gorgeous on you. So gorgeous. Shirts are on my list for this year too. Must be something in the air.

Unknown said...

I've liked the Archer shirt from Grainlne Studios as a basic collared shirt. Nice fit, shaped without being skimpy.

Kate said...

I just made one Rochelle, and it is a great shape!