McCalls M7575, Shirt

Any stitcher with an office job will tell you the best way of getting through those excruciating 8 hours a day is to turn up to work in something sassy that you made yourself.

I made a McCalls M7575 shirt when I started my current job, and it's true, it does make me smile when I catch sight of myself. Annoyingly my first shrunk a tiny bit in the wash (or maybe I ate, I duno) and the button band was gaping a bit between buttons. It was easily fixed by unstitching the band and adding in some thicker interfacing... and then I took out the front darts. I swear it shrunk okay!!


I kept this in mind when I started out on my second M7575. The fabric I chose had a bit more body than my summery tropical viscose. When facing my button band I chose a heftier interfacing but decided the front darts would remain.


Cutting out using vertical stripes can make things easier as you can match up the pattern and make it really symmetrical, but also have to remember if darts are slightly misaligned then it's going to be much more obvious that you are asymmetrical.



I didn't really make any changes to the pattern, the shoulders fit really nicely and the length is perfect for tucking into my work skirt. I decided not to cut the front band on the bias as my last one stretched out a little. Straight grain all the way.

The only bit I messed up (!) for not really paying attention to the instructions was when sewing the underarm panel to the sleeve, I stitched the wrong seam to begin with (ie, not the actual underarm seam but the other side of the panel). It makes adding the cuff on a little tricker than it needed to be, but wasn't the end of the world and the end result is still the same. Would like to save myself the pain of making the same mistake again though.

I chose some super simple little buttons which I thought would compliment the bold stripes of the fabric. Love that cheeky stripe of maroon in there!


I used the button guide for gauging the buttonhole placement but made sure that I started with the button at the bust point so as to avoid any gaping.

Yay! Another finished shirt to brighten up the office. Want to make more with some fun geometric prints.

x

Location: Leppings Lane, Sheffield // Love Square, Sheffield
Currently listening to: Express Yourself, N.W.A.

McCalls M7484, Cardigan

If you've ever had a conversation with me for longer than five minutes I've probably told you that I get really cold. With what feels like another 4 months of winter still to come I wanted my next make to be something that would hopefully shut me up moaning for a bit.

My mental brief for this make was 'comfy, warm, snuggly, casual. Must have pockets'. I set about searching for a solid pattern that would tick all my boxes and settled on the McCalls M7484 cardigan pattern. I was excited about how easy it looked to wear, just pull on then snuggle up! Plus how easy it looked to make- no fastenings!

I particularly like the big fold out collar that doubles up as a scarf and the way it turns into this super cute waterfall front. I struck lucky with this fabric from Abakhan, the underside is plain black so creates a bold contrast where it folds in and out. I decided to use the reverse for making the cuffs and bottom band too.

I'd spotted this pattern online and hastily added it to my wishlist. What I didn't pay attention to, was the sizing of the pattern. Ooops, I'd ordered the large sizes!! I talked myself out of buying the pattern again after taking a bit of time to open it out and assess the pieces. I worked out what size I would need then traced the pattern, shrinking it down as I traced. It sounds kind of tricky, I think if the pattern had been more complex I would have struggled, but I tried to draw the inside to match the difference in sizes that were already shown.

I made a quick toile so I could check I hadn't done anything crazy with the sleeves but it all seemed to fit together pretty well. Can't believe I thought about rebuying the pattern! As the style is pretty loose anyway I didn't want to make it extra extra roomy!

The pockets are sewn into the side seams, with the pocket bag being attached straight onto the inside of the front piece. I think a free moving pocket might have been a bit cooler as you can see the stitching from the front, but I was super neat with my curves and luckily my stitching it pretty much hidden by the colour of my fabric.

The hardest part of assembling is probably attaching at the collar. As with pretty much every McCalls pattern I've ever used (coincidence??) you have to reinforce a corner and then snip into it, making the seam allowance very tiny where you join the back neck to the shoulders. It works though! Which I was relieved about after feeling like I'd blagged it a bit when I reduced the size of the pattern.

The other tricky bit I found was getting over the bulk around the pockets and side seams with the overlocker. As the fabric I chose was quite thick it was a bit of a climb to get round when attaching the bottom band.

Over all the cardigan is exactly what I was after. I think maybe it is just a little bit too long- the bottom band certainly affects the way it hangs, and it was perhaps a little easier to wrap around before I added it. I like the colour contrast though and the way the length hugs my bum a bit at the back so I'm not complaining!

Oh yeah and did I mention it's super warm?

x

Location: Burgoyne Arms, Langsett Road, Sheffield
Currently listening to: GO GO GO, Coco Don't