Swiss Dot, More Wearable (maybe)

In fall of 2023, I made a ridiculously frilly shirt with some delicate swiss dot cotton I happened to find in the Walmart mill end precuts bins.  There was a decent amount of the fabric left, and I figured I'd make a much more plain shirt from it (although I'm not sure if I'd say "more practical," because there's nothing practical about the idea of me trying to wear white without getting it stained and grungy.)

Then, last September, I made a vest and vaguely coordinating skirt and immediately knew I wanted to make the basic swiss dot shirt to go with them.  Nine months later, I finally have! 

I once again used my heavily modified Burda 7831; at this point, the only pattern piece I use that's the original printed Burda tissue is the front band.  This time, I also made it a few inches longer.  At this point, I've made about twenty shirts using various modifications of this pattern, and I can get it put together pretty fast, and with no surprises.

This fabric presses beautifully, which helped a lot with the way I press every edge possible before starting to stitch.  Even with interfacing, this fabric was so much finer than what I'm used to, too.  The sewing machine needle almost never felt like it encountered any resistance at all.

I chose smaller buttons--and a higher number of them--in part because of the delicacy of the fabric, and also in part because I liked the way these particular faux shell buttons have a subtle rainbow iridescence...which I didn't take the time to figure out how to photograph.

 

It is there, and it makes me happy.

I thought of being fancy and doing french seams, but I decided not to stress over things and went with my usual serged seam allowances.

 

I so seldom use perfectly matched serger thread that I forget what an unobtrusive finish it can be.

The back of this shirt is very plain, but, for this instance in particular, I can't imagine I'll ever wear it without another layer over it, if only to obscure the fact that all of my bras are black or navy.

 

 because this fabric is very sheer 

That said, the no-nonsense little sleeves should make it very easy to wear this under jackets, cardigans, and even sweaters or other shirts, should the style call for it.  Eventually, I'll even try it under the vest that partially inspired me to finally make it.