Yesterday I surprised myself when I tried to create a link to the review I wrote for this pattern and found out it wasn’t even here!! I wrote this for Pattern Review; oh, months ago, and …er, forgot? to put it here on my blog too. I’ve updated the review here only slightly, to take into account the fact I’ve used it an extra five times since writing this review, and to note some of the variations.
I decided today to wear one of the earliest versions of this pattern I made for Craig; as an overshirt, folded over at the front asymmetrically and belted like a sort of coat. Please note my fabulous salon-styled do; this kind of glamourous hair doesn’t appear here often…
Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, burgundy linen
Dress; Burda 8511 with fitting, neckline and zip placement variations, brown wool mix. oh, and fully lined too…
Belt; kept from a pair of old cargos
Socks; knitted by me
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti
So without further ado, here is the review:
Pattern Description:
Men’s dress shirt, one version with front pintucking option, the other plain fronted and with four collar variations
Pattern Sizing:
European 44 (US 34) to European 60 (US 50)
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
I’ve only sewed version B without pintucking, but yes
Were the instructions easy to follow?
very easy
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I liked everything about this pattern, nothing to dislike. It’s a basic men’s shirt!
Fabric Used:
Linen
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
The first time I made this pattern up it was for a birthday present for my husband and I had to make it in secrecy with no fittings! Luckily it fitted fine, however the subsequent times I’ve used it I fine-tuned the fitting to accommodate my husband’s measurements perfectly. Namely by deepening the armholes and correspondingly widening the sleeve at the underarm point. Obviously this wasn’t the pattern’s fault, that I couldn’t perform progress fittings, however!
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, I’ve sewn this up eight times now; for my husband, our two sons and even for me, and plan to use it many times over again in the future. Would highly recommend to others as a simple basic shirt pattern.
Conclusion:
What’s not to like about this pattern? Men’s shirting needs are often simple and uncomplicated and this pattern serves the purpose exceptionally well. Being such a basic pattern means you can add your own variations such as pocket flaps, welt pockets and fancy topstitching variations as much as you wish. You could also shorten the sleeves to make a summer button-up shirt too. The times I’ve used this pattern I’ve varied the pocket slightly each time, and played around with contrasting topstitching details. It’s a simple matter to lengthen the body pieces to create a curved lower hemline if this is desired also. An advanced seamstress could also play around with varying the yoke.
For the versions for my teenage sons I added tabs inside the sleeves that button back on themselves on the outside of the sleeves to hold up the sleeves when rolled up; I also used press studs in lieu of buttons; sewed on two breast pockets with flaps and angled the pocket flaps and cuffs to give a funkier look to suit a teenager’s tastes. This is only one variation of many one could try out with this great pattern.
Later edit; looking at the other reviews of this pattern I was reminded that the yoke pattern piece had “cut 1” printed on it by mistake instead of “cut 2”. I think this is a simple typo, and not really a problem as the pattern instructions clearly require for there to be two yoke pieces cut, and the pattern cutting layout also illustrates two yoke pieces laid out.
