At the end of January I had the privilege of attending the Heartland ASDP's annual sewing retreat. I was so excited to go and take a few difficult projects I needed help getting the perfect fit on. There are a multitude of talented sewists in the Indianapolis area, including Evelyn Cummings my Palmer Pletsch fitting instructor, and I had access to them all weekend!

One of the difficult projects I took to the retreat was the Sewaholic Granville button up shirt. I knew I needed to add width across the middle of the back of this pattern following my first time making it. I started by increasing the size of the top half of the shirt to a size four and grading down to a size two through the waist and the hips. Other adjustments I made included a 1 1/4" sway back adjustment and shortening the sleeves by 3".


The gray Cotton + Steel gingham I purchased for the project was only 44" wide and I had to be very careful about how I cut out the pattern pieces. Since I had so little fabric, and as a fun fashion statement, I decided to use a cotton floral print on the interior cuffs and collar stand and cut the sleeve placket on the diagonal. I was also able to borrow one of women's simflex sewing gauges to perfectly place my buttons down the front of my new shirt.

I had less difficulty with the collar stand this time around, but did find it still had a bit more fabric than I needed. The only thing I would change in making this pattern again would be to move the shoulder seams up about 1/4". All-in-all I love this top and it will surely see a lot of wear. The back has enough room for me to move in while still having the slim, fitted look I desired. The peek-a-boo pops of floral and the sleeve placket are my favorite elements.



Time estimate: 16 hours
Size: 2-4
Fabric used: 1 1/2 yards Cotton + Steel gray gingham, 1 yard The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection 2014 floral (out of stock)
Care instructions: machine wash/tumble dry low

Cost to make
Pattern: $25, previously used
Cotton + Steel gingham fabric: $18
The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection 2014 floral fabric: from my stash
*thread from stash, buttons gifted
TOTAL: $43

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My mother taught me how to sew, and her mother taught her. We have a rich family history of sewing and I couldn't be more thankful for the mentor-ship of my mom and her sister Karen.

This year I had the opportunity to tackle a sewing project with the help of both my mom and Aunt Karen and captured some of their advice along the way. I wanted to share their nuggets of gold with you; I hope you find them as helpful as I do!


Tips from Aunt Karen included, "before you cut anything out, treat your fabric like you would the garment. Every fabric, every time." This tip allows a sewer to avoid shrinking of finished garments, dye bleeding, and other potential fabric laundering issues. She also suggested it was best to adhere interfacing to the inside (toward your skin) when possible in case it wrinkles. For example, she would suggest that I adhere fusible interfacing to the interior collar stand instead of the exterior panel of a collared shirt.


My mom, quoting her mother, told me the best way to decide on button placement is to always start with a button in the place with the greatest pull (across the bust or hips) and to place the rest of your buttons evenly from there. What an amazing tip! She also taught me that to set my stitches and make a crisp seam I could spray water (from a separate spray bottle) to steam my garment without burning my fingers.


I've learned a lot about sewing this year, spending intentional time watching, reading, and practicing my craft. With advice like that of my mom and Aunt Karen I can create better garments than I could purchase. I'm so incredibly thankful for the advice of my mom and Aunt Karen any time I have difficulty interpreting a pattern or deciding on an appropriate fabric. Now to enact their advice on my next project!

What tips have you learned from your sewing mentors?

Photography by K.Willerick Photography. Go check out her site!

I am so fortunate to come from a long line of seamstresses. When I decided to be more intentional about developing my sewing skills this year I new one of the things I wanted to learn was how to sew a button up shirt. In addition to learning how to sew a button stand, collar and collar stand, and placket, a button up shirt is something I wear to work often and would be a great addition to my me-made wardrobe.

After spending a small amount of time searching the sewing community's social media I learned about Sewaholic's Granville shirt pattern, which always came with rave reviews, so I added it to my 2018 Make Nine goals. However, I wasn't confident enough to begin this project on my own so I coordinated a weekend sewing extravaganza with my mom and her sister, my Aunt Karen. These two women are my sewing gurus and I learned a lot from them while making this wearable muslin.


After laying out all of my pattern pieces I realized that I didn't have enough material to make a long sleeved sample so instead I settled for a short sleeved version and will probably still need to practice a placket before I make a final version. In fact, I had so little fabric my mom had to dig up a contrasting from her stash for the collar stand, which turned out to be one of my favorite parts of this shirt!


After reading the pattern back and having a brief tissue fitting with my mom I decided to cut out a size two, carefully folding pattern pieces in case that wasn't my final and correct size. The pattern and instructions were fairly easy to understand and I loved the option of a current style and fit in the traditional format of a tissue pattern with printed paper instructions. However, my one major difficulty with this pattern was the length of the collar stand piece. Between the three of us we just couldn't figure out why it seemed so long, even after pulling out a button up shirt Grandma had made years ago to compare and searching other maker blogs. Eventually I decided to cut off 5/8" from one end of the collar stand, since I was working on a muslin, and the assembly went much smoother from there.


My mom and Aunt Karen were taught to attach the collar to the collar stand before attaching the collar stand to the shirt. I decided to stick with the pattern instructions for my first time using this pattern and attached the collar stand to the shirt, topstitching a portion of the collar in place. I think the method I used from Sewaholic's pattern could make a weak pivot point in the collar and will likely try Mom and Aunt Karen's method next time I make this pattern. One additional tip I learned from Aunt Karen was to put the interfacing inside or on the bottom when possible in case it were to bubble.


As I said above, I ended up making a size two, which fit well throughout the waist and hips, but was far too tight in the shoulders and arms. When I make this pattern again I will make a size four and grade down to a size two for the waist and hips.


I was so glad to have the lightweight red and white button up made in time for Independence Day and wore it a lot that whole week!

In addition to the fabulous family time sewing this shirt I was blessed to have my sister photographing its assembly as well as the final product. Pictured below, my modeling my new make over family vacation in Cincinnati.




Stay tuned for my long sleeved gingham version this fall!

Time estimate: 20 hours
Size: 2
Material used: assumed printed cotton blend, gifted from family friend
Care instructions: machine wash cold, tumble dry low

Cost to make shirt:
pattern - $25
fabric - gifted
buttons and thread from my stash
TOTAL: $25

Photography by K.Willerick Photography. Go check out her site!