So I’ve had a bit of a sewing slump since returning from our big trip. Just had so much re-adjustment to regular life that I didn’t have any extra creative energy to work on things. Didn’t help that I had some sewing commitments to catch up on and had that nagging over my head until they were done! But selfish sewing week last week was the push I needed to check something off my list. I’ve had the Archer pattern since Thanksgiving (P.S.A.- pattern makers have black friday sales too!) and just haven’t gotten around to it yet. So glad I finally got one made and let me assure you, it’s the first of many!

Like I mentioned this is the Archer button down pattern from Grainline Studios. I made the size 8 based on my bust measurements. I couldn’t be bothered to muslin so I ended up with a few fit issues. The shoulder seams ended up hitting pretty far past my shoulders. I took the shoulder seam in about 1/4″ and that helped enough to make it wearable. The arms are also a little big so maybe I’ll try a muslin version of the 6 before I make another one to see if that’s better. I have a feeling I’m going to have to grade between several sizes though because it fits perfectly across the back and I don’t want to make it too tight!

ignore the stray thread on my back- comes with the job!

I love Jen’s patterns but I have to tell you I always follow her sewalongs when I make one of her patterns. I find her pattern instructions to be just a little too sparse for my limited clothes-making skills, but I LOVE her sewalongs. She includes lots of pictures to help you walk you through the pattern. I also checked out all the adjustments that Kristin made on her sen ritsu version and followed along with what she did- that link for using the glue gun on the collar- pure genius!!

I used Jen’s alternate pocket version (except I cut off about 1/2″ from the bottom to make it a bit smaller) because I wanted to show off the other side of this double gauze fabric. Isn’t it so pretty! I love how you can see it on the pocket and when I roll up the sleeves. Speaking of fabric, this is the softest fabric ever. Seriously, I feel like I’m wearing a cloud. I picked up this fabric at Bolt in Portland on our big trip. (And the fabric has no selvedge information so I can’t remember if it’s double gauze or double cloth but they’re basically the same thing right? I searched for it online but couldn’t find any specifics so I’ll just call it double gauze unless I hear otherwise.) It was so beautiful I made sure to get 2 yards so I would have enough to make a garment for myself- just enough for the archer. A splurge to be sure but this shirt finishes up so professional that it deserves a special fabric. I’m already plotting how I can get my hands on some more great fabric to make another one. 

Notes on sewing with this fabric. This fabric can be fairly tricky to sew with because it moves easily and can get off grain and then bunch up while sewing. It helped that my fabric had regularly spaced polka dots because I used those to keep me on grain while I was cutting out my shirt. I really took my time on this to keep it perfect! And after my first seam ended up being pretty wonky, I pulled out my walking foot, lengthened my stitch length, and sewed really slowly. That made a huge difference and I am really happy with how well the sewing turned out!

If you follow my IG (@oliversfancy) you’ll notice I had a major brain fail with the buttonholes and sewed them on the wrong side of the shirt but I took such time on them and they look so perfect that I’m determined to not let it bother me! It’s actually not as big of a pain to button up as I was afraid it might be. In conclusion, I really love this shirt and am looking forward to making a few more to spruce up my fall wardrobe! I didn’t quite finish it during selfish sewing week but it’s fairly close and I’m glad SSW gave me the push I needed to break through my slump! Now to find more time to make all the things floating around in my head.