Mint Choc Chip Mockup

Posted in Sewing

I have mocked up a new pattern for a button-up shirt – it’s the V&A Customisable Shirt, and it is completely free! I’ve had this pattern on my to-make list for two years now, so this mockup is very exciting.

The author stands in front of a hedge, photographed from neck to thighs. She wears a mint green shirt with navy and white polka dot pants, and has her hands on her hips. The shirt is pinned shut at the front button placket, and has one slim-cut sleeve and one poofy, pirate-shirt-esque sleeve.

The pattern has a plethora of options for customising the shirt (especially for a free pattern!), however I mocked up the most basic version, with one of each of the sleeve options. Let’s discuss, from the bottom up!

Close-up of the hem of the mint green shirt, at one of the side seams. The shirt is slightly longer at the back than the front, and the hem curves up and them back down again at the side seam. The author's hem has quite angular curves.

This hem was Difficult to get neat and smooth, especially around the corners (as you can see). For future shirts, I will level this hem – my shirts will be tucked in anyway, so I don’t really need any fun details here.

Close-up of the slim sleeve of the mint green shirt. The author has her arm held out to the side so it is visible. It has a cuff at the wrist, and there is a fold pinned up at about the author's elbow.

This is the Classic sleeve, which I plan to use on my shirts. You can see I’ve had to shorten this sleeve about 5cm at the elbow, which I expected – the pattern piece looked long when I was cutting it out!

Close-up of the placket of the Classic sleeve. The author has her arm raised so that it is visible. The cuff is pinned shut at the wrist, and the sleeve placket has been sewn with dark brown thread.

It also has a placket, which I’ve never tried before!

Close-up of the second sleeve, which is the poofy pirate-shirt-esque one. The sleeve is gathered at the shoulder and the wrist, with a smaller cuff at the wrist. It is very voluminous.

This is the other sleeve option, which is a very full, pirate-shirt style sleeve. Sadly, this would be impractical for wearing everyday, but I still wanted to try making it just to see how poofy it was.

The author faces away from the camera, so the back of the shirt is visible. The back is gathered into the yoke with a subtle pleat, and the shirt is tucked into the author's navy and white polka dot pants.

I put an inverted box pleat in the back, and burritoed the yoke – also a new technique for me!

Close-up of the centre front placket of the shirt, which is pinned shut. The placket extends down to about the middle of the author's torso, where it finishes with a triangular shape. It has been sewn with dark brown thread, as has the collar stand around the neck edge. There is no collar on the shirt.

Then there’s the front placket and collar. The collar fits very well around my neck – snug, yet comfortable. I found that the centre front placket opening on the pattern was about half a centimetre too wide for the pattern pieces, so on the inside is a little tuck at the base.

Whew! I’m very happy I made this mockup, because I was able to practice all those new techniques and shorten the sleeve without also having to worry about making it neat and wearable. I also made a size B, which as I mentioned, fits me really well.

Now, I say mint choc chip because this fabric is mint green, and I used brown thread to make it, and the colour combination was making me hungry. Perhaps I should make a genuine Mint Choc Chip Shirt…. maybe with little ice cream cone buttons…..

Anyways, see ya!

Yves

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Published by Filliefanatic

Lover of all things tiny, model horse collector, reader and crafter for life!

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