Granville Shirt 2.0

©Aspiring Threads

I started my second Granville shirt on Thursday, and finished it on Friday. I mentioned in my previous post that this shirt has a tower placket - this is what it looks like after it is sewn up, but before the cuff is attached. This is an awesome placket, which isn't terribly difficult to sew, but does require accuracy and patience. The end result is worth the effort, in my opinion.

©Aspiring Threads

I bought this fabric last week at Dressew, which is an awesome store. They have such an incredible selection of fabrics and notions, however they only carry Burda patterns (which I've never had good results with, personally) and they only take cash and debit, so leave your credit card at home. If you want to read more about Dressew, there's a great post about the store on the Sewaholic blog. I bought all of the fabrics for the wedding there, and spent less than $80 total for three dresses. There are great deals to be had, though every time I walk in the store, I know I'm coming home with things I didn't plan on buying. I may have also bought some awesome rayon for an Oakridge blouse.

This fabric screamed at me, because it needed to be a Granville. Anyone who knows me well knows that I cannot resist purple. I gravitate toward earthy, warm, autumn colours, and this fabric has all of that going for it. I only wish I'd found more cottons appropriate for Granville shirts... Maybe one of these days I'll splurge on some Liberty fabric. I'd rather not use quilting cotton for shirts, as it doesn't drape as nicely as fabrics meant for garments.

I paid around $7 per meter for this fabric, and bought enough to make a nice summer skirt or sleeveless top. Time will tell what the remainder of the fabric will become.

©Aspiring Threads

I absolutely love the fit of this version of the shirt. I decided to grade the hips of the pattern down just on the side seams, to a size 8, which I think is perfect. I took 1" off the bottom of each side on the black floral Granville I made, which was the equivalent of about 1". I'll keep this in mind for future patterns, as I now know I'll need to grade the hips.

Oddly enough, the sleeves on this version feel a little snug, but that could be due to the fact that this fabric feels a little stiffer than the black floral. I didn't prewash the fabric, but I noticed after playing with swatches of it that it does soften considerably after having been wet. If that doesn't help, I'll likely add a little bit to the upper sleeve in future shirts, as it is the bicep that feels a little snug.

Again, this pattern does not disappoint. I promised my sister in law that I'd make her some shirts too, so hopefully you won't get tired of seeing different versions of my Granville shirts!