Granville Shirt

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Well, I did it. I sewed my Sewaholic Granville shirt! It was a challenging pattern for me, even though I've sewn some pretty fancy dresses. Why? Because I've never sewn a collar stand before, or tower plackets.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Sewaholic patterns are drafted for a pear shaped figure. I decided to just stick to the size 12 measurements, because I didn't think the hips would be all that far off.

As you can see from this photograph, it appears I was wrong. There are flappy sticky-outy bits at my hips! When I first tried the shirt on, before it was finished, I thought it would be okay, but once I had buttons on it, I decided that the extra fabric at the hips would bother me, so I took it out.

©Aspiring Threads

This is so much better. There's still a little bit of fullness at the hips, but I didn't want it to fit tight around the hips. I actually like it this way.

My FBA was perfect on the first try, which is a relief. I've had more than a couple of projects that needed repeated attempts on the FBA, so it made me really happy that it worked out as well as it did. There's absolutely NO pulling or drag lines at the bust, which you can't really see because of the pattern on the fabric, so you'll you'll just have to take my word for it.

I was a little worried about the length, because the patterns are drafted for a 5'4" woman, and I'm closer to 5'8", but everything is exactly the right length. In fact, I could have shortened the sleeves by 1/2", but I'm happy with the way they fit.

©Aspiring Threads

I did have a little bit of trouble with my topstitching at first, because I didn't grade my collar points quite enough. I had uneven weirdness on the points, and that's always something that bothers me in a handmade garment. If you're going to go through all of the trouble to sew for yourself, take the time to do it right. I'm by no means a professional seamstress, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to make my garments look like I know what I'm doing.

As I mentioned, this was the first time I'd ever sewn a collar stand, and I think it turned out quite well. My buttonholes are placed perfectly, and my topstitching is even.

I'm really looking forward to my next Granville, which I'll be cutting out today. I've already modified the pattern to fit my hips properly, but other than that, this pattern didn't require any other modifications besides my FBA.

Here are a few helpful tips if you're interested in making your own Granville...

• The instructions are quite clear, but there are a few things that did need thorough reading to understand.
• The tower placket tutorial on the Sewaholic blog was incredibly useful, and I highly recommend that you read it at least twice before you start your plackets.
• I didn't realize it, but the Sewaholic blog has several posts on the collar as well, which I missed. I'll go over them again before I tackle my next Granville.
• Speaking of plackets, take your time! A glue stick is extremely handy, as it saves you some pinning.
• If you're doing an FBA, the CSC tutorial works perfectly!
• Don't skimp on your fabric when you buy it. I only had about .2 meters remaining after I cut mine, and if you're doing an FBA, you might need extra. It can't hurt to buy extra, in case you make a mistake or decide to add pockets (I didn't put pockets on my shirt).
• Most of the markings on this pattern are done using notches. In fact, the only places I needed to use other marking methods were the bust darts and sleeve plackets. I marked my buttonholes after construction using tailor's chalk.
• Accurate measuring is essential for this pattern. You can't just eyeball it when you're pressing a seam, or you might mess up the alignment of other pieces. A seam gauge is your friend!

I'm off to cut out my next Granville... this time in another large floral, but white and purple instead.