Friday, April 1, 2016

Butterick 6325 -- A Sweet Shirt

Butterick 6325

Totally into shirts these days -- 
must be Spring! 
Perfect weather here in southwest Oregon 
and the Bernina has been stitching up 
some fun versions of Butterick 6325.
This chic version of a classic shirt
has a pleated collar, 
asymmetrical pleat on right front and back
and asymmetrical hem with layered peplum.
This simple to sew pattern
lends itself to many design iterations
and the envelope contains both
 long and short versions.
All shirts shown are long.


Version 1 - pieced in cotton


This version is made up of 
three different Japanese cottons from marcytilton.com
Pre-washed in my usual cavalier fashion 
-- a quick wash and a toss in the dryer, 
then to the ironing board.
The fun part is figuring out what goes where.   
Placement is pondered 
but frequently the size of the remnant 
determines what happens with it.
In this version a seam was created
on the left back side to utilize
a piece of the pale green.
It was needed to balance the sleeve 
and underside of the collar.

Underside of collar

The under collar was pieced,
using the selvedge edge as an overlap.
It's such a joy using the selvedge edge 
of these beautiful Japanese cottons
as they frequently have words printed on them.
The selvedge edge was used
for the sleeve 'hems' on this shirt and
French seams keep the look tidy
when the sleeves are rolled up.

Version 2 -- in striped rayon

Into loving blue these days.
Certain blues are known in the trade 
as being 'denim friendly'
 (I'm such a jeans girl).

Version 3 -- an irregularly dyed rayon and linen blend

When washed and dried this fabric
softened but kept its body.
Sewed up like a dream.
I used the selvedge again,
as sleeve edges, as the 'hem' edge
on the peplum panels
and as trim on the collar.


Collar detail with selvedge accent

Front of collar with selvedge detail

The pattern piece for the under collar was cut double 
and used for the top collar as well, 
eliminating the pleats.
The selvedge trim's length was determined
by what scraps of selvedge were left.
Edges that would show were hemmed
and pinned randomly to the collar,
folded a bit for interest
and then stitched into the collar seam.
(After stitching up six plus
shirts I am ready for some variations!)

Here you can see the back pleat and peplum detail

Then there's the question of fabric.
Butterick 6325 is perfect for linen
(mid to lightweight), cottons and
other wovens with or without stretch.
All the fabric is from marcytilton.com.

Now about the yardage and layout...
The back piece of this pattern is asymmetrical
and wider at the hem which means 
it's an ample pattern piece,
more so in the larger sizes.
The pattern envelope only notes yardage for 60" fabric.
If you look online you can find many
fabric conversion charts which will help
knowing how much to buy.

There are several solutions to the layout of the fabric.
The Japanese cottons are narrow
which is one reason a back seam was added.
Add a back seam or on a firm woven 
the back can be cut on the crossgrain.



Still openings in our ParisTilton tour
in May and November
if you want to join us!

Happy sewing!!!