Sunday 6 May 2012

McCall's 5630 - Chambray shirt

I've been seeing chambray shirts all over Pinterest and blog land for quite a while and I wanted to get in on the action.  I searched for fabric that matched the version in my mind for quite a while and then last week I found exactly what I wanted in Spotlight (of all places).  I didn't want to buy any more materials to make this shirt so I used McCall's 5630 from my pattern stash and I'm pretty happy with the results. 


You don't see many shirts on my blog because easing in sleeves is my kryptonite.  It's something I've always struggled with and has caused more than a few problems, but it was time for me to get over it, and I really need some new shirts.

Now the fit on my finished shirt isn't amazing - but it's better than anything I've been able to buy in RTW and over time I plan on improving it.  The pattern, however, is great.  Lots of tips and advice and adjustment lines.  Pretty much every review of this pattern mentioned the excessive ease in the sleeves but I was determined to beat my demons.  I read a few tutorials on removing sleeve cap ease but in the end I kind of fudged it and it work pretty well.  I simply cut down the middle and overlapped the pattern pieces by about a 1/4 inch.


Other than that I added 1-1/4 inches to the waist length and added 2 inches to the hem and that was it.  The instructions were great, the sleeve length was spot on and the shoulder seam sits where I like it too.  There does seem to be a fair bit of excess fabric in the back (maybe a sway back adjustment?) and as a cut a straight 14 a little extra ease at the waist and hips wouldn't go astray - but it's not too bad.




Sorry again for the crappy photos - we've had rain all week and the only person willing to take my photo is my eight year old and she's not very good at holding the camera still.  Might be time to investigate a remote.

This is my day six outfit for Me Made May and I'm really enjoying the challenge.  My two items a day pledge (with the exception of dresses) is pushing me, but in a good way.  I'll post a weekly round up on Tuesday.

7 comments:

fabric epiphanies said...

I have never been a shirt person either, until recently and not sure why. Love the chambray version.

lakaribane said...

Lovely shirt, very fresh and light! As for the back, I would consider both back length issues AND swayback. Unless you're a Pear and you need more room at the hips?

Lynneb said...

Its great to see a chambrey shirt sewn up, and yours looks great. They are such a classic. Once you get your pattern tweaked you'll find that you will make lots of shirts!

Sharon said...

Very pretty chambrey shirt. Your shirt is being pushed up because it looks a bit tight over the hips, when you add more there that will remove some of it, but looking at you side on, I'd say time for a sway back adjustment (I'm doing a 1.5cm adjustment and thinking this needs to be increased).

Sharon said...

oops, increased for me not you :)

Bernice said...

This looks like a great basic and works really well with the jeans. Looks like you need a little bit more room at the hips and a swayback adjustment to me. Your sleeves are looking pretty good to me and they're always the hardest part.

Gabrielle said...

Looks like a great wardrobe classic, and to me that sleeve trick has worked very well (and I'm going to try to remember it for myself :-)).