40’s Style Shirt

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First off I want to start by saying I blame Rochelle of Lucky Lucille for making me fall in love with button up shirts. If you don’t read Lucky Lucille, which I highly recommend you should if you like vintage fashion and sewing, Rochelle has been making several button up shirts, like this one  or this one.

Anyways, after seeing how wonderful Rochelle’s shirts came out I started thinking I wanted to make myself some button-up shirts as well. In the past I was never to keen on button up shirts since they never seemed to fit quite right on me.

However, after making my ice cream social shirt last summer, I discovered that I love button up shirts, as long as they fit right. Thus, by making my own I could now have some amazing button-up shirts in my wardrobe.

For my latest button-up shirt project I decided to make the 1940’s style shirt from the book “Gertie Sews Vintage Casual” by Gretchen Hirsch. I had been wanting a 40’s style shirt for some time and this pattern seemed to fit what I was looking for.

Making the shirt was pretty straightforward. I cut out a size 8 and graded to a size 12 on the way down to fit my larger waist and hips. I left all the darts at the size 8 to match up with my bust measurements.

When starting this project I was a little nervous, since all the shirts I’d make up to now have been sleeveless and for a good reason. I have “big country girl arms”, as my mother would say. A lot of times sleeves just seem to be too tight on me. But, I really wanted to try my hand at making the cute puff sleeves with cuffs that the pattern came with, so I thought I give it my best.

I cut out sleeve pattern at a size 12 as I figure I would need the large size. As it turns out the size 12 sleeve, did not make it all the way around my arm. Instead of tracing a different pattern size  I just recut the size 12 sleeve this time adding 1-½ inches to the each end length.

The extra length worked and it actually fit around my arm. I had to add the same 1-½ inches to each side of the cuff as well. Next time I make this shirt I think I’ll make it with, maybe, a size 14 sleeve.

I sewed the shirt with ⅝ inch seams as directed by the book, all except the front facing. To avoid the dreaded boob gap that us bustier girls often encounter, I sewed the front facing at ½ inch seam to the shirt. This gave just enough room to avoid any gaping.

I really love how this shirt came out. Other than the sleeves still being a little snug, the shirt itself is great! I also love the fun floral print that I choose for the shirt, I think it gives it an even more vintage look with this fabric.

After making this fabulous shirt I needed to pair it with something, and while it looks great with a pair of jeans I decided to make a skirt to match it. I ended up making the Delphine skirt from the book “Love at First Stitch”  by  Tilly Walnes.

I made the skirt out of a lovely pink denim I had in my stash. In my next post I talk more about my new favorite skirt, but for right now let’s just admire how well this shirt and skirt go together.

I really love this outfit as it has both a vintage and slightly modern vibe to it. I also love the little bow I made to match the outfit.

All in all I’m really happy with this project and plan on making more button-up shirts, so stay tuned!

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