I picked up Simplicity 5303 from the creative re-use store
It's from 1981--so incredibly from 1981, from that largely forgotten time when it was Trendy Youthful Fashion to wear ruffly shirts and knickers (American definition thereof), or ruffly shirts--with built-in neck bows--and A-line skirts for A Professional Look.
Which is, of course, not the kind of shirt I've made from this pattern.
But, my many deviations do lend a certain air of 'knock off Gunne Sax' to it.
The first deviation is not, in fact, the decision to mix prints, but instead the decision to use fabrics that aren't as floaty and delicate as the pattern wants. I can tell that view 2 on the envelope, even though it's an illustration, would have been made with slippery shiny polyester, possibly with a jacquard texture partly hidden under the print. I remember those fabrics well from my youth.
Making the shirt from such a fabric, instead of these somewhat sturdier cottons, probably would have resulted in a more graceful bow when tied.
Since I am far more likely to make future versions of this from cottons, I might try cutting the neckband/tie on the bias, like the neckband/tie pieces are in McCall's 5675. If I want to get even farther away from the pattern's intentions, I could make a standing collar and eliminate the bow completely (and make room for a nice brooch.)
The front band was completely straightforward, although I did my usual backwards installation--press in half lengthwise, then press under what will be the front edge; sew the raw edge to the back of the front opening, flip the pressed edge around to encase everything, and finish with edge stitching from the outside. This eliminates the issues of either hand stitching the pressed edge on the inside like the pattern wants, or trying to stitch through all layers from the outside while hoping to catch the pressed edge on the inside in an even, regular way.
The pattern calls for top stitching the edges of the front band anyway, so why not be lazy and combine the steps by altering the approach.
I'm not sure how the pattern wants the bottom edge of the band treated, but it probably isn't like this--which, again, is my usual method: press the bottom edge of the shirt up 5/8", then press that in half with the raw edge inside, before sewing on the band so that the bottom edge extends past the folded and pressed edge of the shirt; fold the band end extension right sides together and stitch across at the level of the pressed bottom of the shirt, trim the corners, turn right-side out to encase the folded/pressed edge of the shirt, and finish the band with all the edge stitching I want.
I finish pressing all of the bottom edge and stitch it in place after sewing the side seams (and sleeves.) Sometimes I start and stop stitching on the band, sometimes--as here--next to the band.
I also pressed the sleeve hems up 5/8", then in half to the inside, before sewing the seams, and I also zigzagged on both edges of the elastic, at about two inches up, instead of making a cuff elastic casing like the pattern wants. Then I unfolded the pressed edge a bit around the seam allowances, sewed the sleeve (and bodice) side seam, making sure to double stitch over the elastic ends, serged the seam allowances, then folded the pressed edge back in place and stitched it down along the folded edge from the inside
Is now a good time to mention that I chose the big floral fabric and the blue gingham plus fabric (which had obviously previously been a curtain) because there wasn't much of each of them, and I wanted to use them up? I had picked out a different blue gingham plus (it wasn't as much ~plus~ as this one), but it turned out that there was just enough of this one to use, and I had picked out another small monotone floral, but I knew if I used that for the ruffle, collar, and band, there would still be an awkward chunk of it left, so I instead used a little bit of a large amount of clover print that I got on clearance from JoAnn years ago because it was technically a St Patrick's Day print. Because I used a relatively small amount of a larger yardage, there's still plenty of that to use for future projects, no pesky weird remnants to annoy me until I use them.
Will also mention: because I was working with limited yardage, I shortened the body of this shirt by 4". Since I always place the buttons by trying on the shirt and marking the fullest point--to make sure I put a button there--then spacing the rest of the buttons around that, I was still able to use the full seven buttons the pattern wanted.
I hemmed the ruffle with the 1/8" hem roller, which made quick work of it, unlike the pattern's call to press up a quarter inch and then press that in half to enclose the raw edge.
I hemmed each half of the ruffle independently, then sewed them together at the back point, which is kind of a mess, but I'm not sure what would have happened if I'd tried to turn such a sharp corner with the hem roller. Oh!--maybe in the future, I can roll the hem almost to the seam allowance on each side, sew the seam, then hand roll and stitch the gap between the hem rolled areas. Maybe?
I gathered the ruffle with the ruffler, testing by sewing from the front point to the first notch, then comparing that gathered length to the yoke edge to see if I needed to adjust the ruffle depth. To my delight, I did not, so I pulled out that initial stitching (it...wasn't very good, anyway) and ran the whole length through the ruffler.
And it turned out that was also the same amount of gathering needed for the sleeve caps, which was nice.
I'm not saying this base pattern isn't kinda weird, and I'm definitely not saying this shirt isn't even more weird
but its wannabe Gunne Sax-ness makes me grin. I have already put it in with the next load of laundry, hoping that being washed and dried will make it look even more soft, rumpled, and confusingly unmoored in time. I've already decided my next project will be a subtly plaidly textured skirt to coordinate with this shirt. Living in a fantasy? At least I can make my own clothes for it.
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