Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Crowded Faces Willamette Shirt


The countdown to Me Made May is on! Topstitch ATL reached out to me to see if I wanted to participate in their Me Made May challenge, which celebrates all the inspiration that this amazing sewing community provides.


They ask "Who in the sewing community inspires you most? We’ve been thinking a lot about how much the sewing community means to us, so for #memademay we are all about #mysewingcrowd and that means all of you!" I was all in, as I find our sewing community to be endlessly inspiring.


For the #MySewingCrowd challenge, Topstitch ATL sent me this gorgeous Lady McElroy cotton lawn in the "crowded faces" print. This is a new colorway called "ochre,"  printed on a white background. I think I'd call it a chartreuse, though. It's that yellow-green of fresh spring leaves, and I love it!

Bonus: until midnight ET April 30, you can get 15% off any of the Lady McElroy crowded faces fabrics at Topstitch using the code MYSEWINGCROWD. Then, make something from it, post a photo in May, tag the pattern maker and three people in the sewing community who inspire you most!


With my crowded faces, I made the Hey June Willamette Shirt, a camp-style collared, casual, boxy, dolman popover shirt. I made this pattern a couple of years ago in an Essex linen and love it, but I've been meaning to make the pattern again in a lighter-weight substrate.


This is view A of the Willamette, the longer, shirt-tail hem version I went for the same size as last time: 16 at the bust blended to an 18 at the hip.


The Willamette pattern says you need 3 yards of 56" wide fabric for View A in my size, but I eked it out of the 1.5 yards that Topstitch sent me and I couldn't be happier. I did a little dance when I finished cutting- I was pretty chuffed considering this is a directional print, too!


I decided to have my Willamette button all the way down, rather than sewing the placket most of the way as the pattern calls for. Given my recent discovery how how easy it is to use pearl snaps, I opted for white pearl snaps for this casual shirt.


I really love how my Willamette turned out! So cute and perfect for summer. You may even catch me wearing it tied up when it gets hot out there!


Thanks for having me, Topstitch! Can't wait to see what the rest of the sewing community makes with their crowded faces fabric!