By Hand London Sarah Shirt

Apparently extra time at home during the current lockdown is making me more prone to sewing experimentation! I've always been intrigued and tempted by the look of the By Hand London Sarah shirt, but I was never quite sure if the swingy style would be quite "me". However, I realised when looking through my stash the other week that I had the perfect fabric match for this pattern so I decided that I might as well give it a try.

According to By Hand London's own description, "Sarah is a button-up swing shirt with plenty of ease that clings and skims in all the right places." It has options of long, billowy or short, cuffed sleeves, and rounded or pointed collars. It's definitely no ordinary shirt, and is very feminine and fun.

The version of the pattern that I used is the one that was included with Simply Sewing magazine a while ago. I assume that it's the same as the version directly from By Hand London, but I thought I'd mention it just in case there are any differences.

I enjoyed sewing the Sarah shirt. There were steps that I was familiar with from sewing other patterns, such as the lined yoke and bound cuffs, but also some slightly different features. The collar construction is quite interesting as there's no facing, so when the under collar is attached it simultaneously finishes the neckline.

The instructions are very thorough and mostly easy to follow. I had to read the instructions for the collar attachment steps a couple of times to make sure I was doing the right thing, but I made sense of them in the end. I don't think that step was helped by the fact that the Simply Sewing version of the pattern has photographs of the construction rather than diagrams (as far as I remember from sewing BHL patterns in the past, they usually use diagrams) and the fabric used in the photos didn't have a particularly obvious wrong side.

If I made the Sarah shirt again, I would make a slight change from the instructions and press under the neckline seam allowance of the under collar and the seam allowance on the inner side of the cuffs before attaching the collar/cuffs to the shirt. It's not a major change, but I think it would be considerably less fiddly to do it that way.

My measurements put me between a 14 and 16 at the bust, and in a 16 at the waist and hips. I decided to make a toile of a straight size 14 as I suspected that would be the best size for me as the main fitted area is the shoulders and my shoulders are proportionately smaller than the rest of me so I thought the smaller bust size would be best. Luckily I was right! The only alteration that I made to the pattern was to lengthen it by 2 inches (fairly standard for me - I'm 5'9"), and I'm pleased with the fit.

The fabric I used is probably the garment-sized piece that has been sitting in my stash the longest. I bought it a good few years ago from a shop that has long-since closed. It's a denim-look cotton and I ordered it with the intention of making a dress, but when it turned up it was far too lightweight and soft for what I was planning. It sat on my shelf and every now and then I'd pick it up thinking I'd found the perfect project for it, but then decide that it wasn't quite right and put it back. Thankfully I finally matched it with a pattern! Although I have a fairly sizeable chunk of it left so I might need another project too - I'm wondering about a pyjama top with some shorts made from a different fabric.

The buttons I used have also been in my button jar for a while. They're really fun because they have pictures of various sewing notions on them - and they're still available on Etsy. They're another thing that needed the right project, and again I think they're a good pairing for this fabric and pattern. I love that I have all different pictures running down the front of the shirt.

The instructions have you use poppers/press studs for fastening the cuffs, and I did that but added a decorative button too - partly to use more of the buttons and partly because I thought the cuffs looked a bit naked without buttons!

All in all, I'm happy with my Sarah shirt - it was fun to make and I'm very glad to have finally cut into this fabric. I'm not sure how many options other than these super-thick leggings (they're RTW from my pre-sewing days) I currently have in my wardrobe to show off the shirt in all its swingy glory, but it looks good under a pinafore or tucked into a skirt too so it will get worn one way or another. So a successful experiment really! Have you tried any new styles recently?

Flora and ice creams

Some fabrics just demand to be bought, don't they? This fabric did that to me! It's I scream, you scream from the Boardwalk Delight collection, and I picked it up from The Village Haberdashery. Clearly I needed an ice cream dress. Because an ice cream dress is a complete necessity, and not at all frivolous in any way. Obviously. The only question then was what particular dress it should become.

With a fun print like this an Emery dress is usually my default choice but, as it's also a really summery print, I wanted something sleeveless. I've made a sleeveless Emery before, but ultimately I fancied trying something new. I've seen many versions of the By Hand London Flora dress that I liked, particularly the tank version, so I decided to give it a go.

Or at least give the bodice a go anyway! While I love the delightfully full skirt that Flora is intended to have, this fabric just wasn't wide enough, so I reverted to type used the gathered skirt and pockets from the Emery.

I made a toile of the bodice in a size 12, adding my standard inch to the length, and the general shape was really good, but the fit from the bust down was just slightly too tight for my liking. To some extent, fit is a matter of personal preference, and my preference is definitely to have a nicely fitted bodice but still to have room to breath and enjoy the odd slice of cake. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

As I only needed a tiny bit of extra ease, I decided not to mess with the pattern pieces and instead to sew the side seams with a slightly smaller seam allowance. We're talking 1.3 cm instead of 1.5, but even that little adjustment made all the difference.

I really enjoyed sewing this dress. The instructions are nice and clear so the whole process was a breeze, and it all seemed to go pretty quickly. I know some people wouldn't enjoy the hand sewing of the lining down the zip and around the waistline, but thankfully for me I enjoy hand sewing so it's all good!

The only problem that I had was with the pockets, and that was all to do with the fabric. I originally used the outer fabric for them, but realised pretty soon after sewing them that you could see the ice creams on the pockets through the background colour on the skirt. So the pockets were promptly unpicked, and replaced with pockets cut from the same white cotton lawn as I used for the bodice lining. Problem solved!

One thing I'm particularly pleased about with this dress is the fact that I realised that if I cut things right then I'd be able to get an ice cream on each shoulder strap (the photo above is from mid-construction, so excuse the unfinished centre back seam and any stray threads). Small things like that amuse me. It's not very noticeable when I'm wearing the dress, but I know they're there.

All in all, I'm really happy with how this dress turned out! I know it won't be one of my most worn dresses, purely because I think the print requires really warm weather to be appreciated, but that doesn't mean that I like it any less. And it'll be one of my top wardrobe choices for sunny days. There are still a couple of other summery projects on my sewing list, so I'd better hurry up and get sewing so I can actually wear them! I'm not the only one still sewing for summer am I?