Autumn Plaid Flannel Tarawi Shirt

This shirtmaking project is very much autumn inspired... the colors, the style, the plaid, the flannel. 

 It's still hot and humid out, but winter is coming and I'm onto the next season (although I reserve the right to randomly pop up with one more summer dress or boxy top; that's how my creative process works). 

This shirt has a bit of a basic bitch in autumn feel to it, but I kinda love it anyway. 

In recent years there's been backlash against flannels and sweaters and pumpkins and autumn stuff generally... but it's hard not to look forward to and dive head first into the enthusiasm for autumn here in Vermont, as fleeting as it is.

I bought the fabric, a goldenrod, olive green and burgundy plaid flannel delight, at Notion during their holiday sale last year, I think. It's a Kaufman mammoth flannel, thick and soft.

The pattern is one I've made a couple times before: the Muna and Broad Tarawi shirt. You can check out my first and second versions on my blog. I made a couple tweaks to the fit and finishes this time, though.

I think I could have gone down a size from the last two Tarawi shirts I made, but I was too lazy to retrace entirely. This is still size E with the 2+ chest option (meaning 2-3 inches of difference between high and full bust), graded to D at the hip. I used the narrower sleeve option again.

This time I opted to change up the neckline and use the narrow collar provided in the Tarawi pattern. I find the collar on my previous two versions to be too big. The collar on those versions sits several inches away from my neck, which means the shirt I'm wearing underneath peeks out and the cold draft gets in, neither of which I like.

Luckily I only had to re-print a few pieces to try the narrow collar option for the Tarawi. And it worked great- I'm much happier with the closer fit at the neck!

Like my green version last year, I simplified the pockets (well, pocket) a bit by folding out the pleats and incorporating the facing into the main pocket piece. 

I obviously only cut one, and moved the placement up and out slightly from the pattern markings.

To keep things interesting, I cut the yoke, cuffs, and pocket all on the bias. 

I tried really hard to match the plaid horizontally across the front and sides, but it's not quite there vertically. Shrug. 

I used heavy duty snaps for closures, my favorite recently. 

I'm pretty smitten with my Tarawi!

Bring on the pumpkins and corn mazes and leaf peeping and apple picking; I'm ready for basic bitch autumn.