Sewaholic Granville

 

After a particularly bad experience with the Papercut Rigel Bomber in January and some of February (which I'm choosing not to talk about in an attempt to forget it happened), I really needed a successful make.  The Sewaholic Granville shirt is my first time ever making a button up shirt with a collar and collar stand and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  There's just something rewarding about working through all of the different steps. If you're contemplating making the Sewaholic Granville shirt but haven't yet, get to it.  You won't be disappointed.  Believe the hype because it's a great pattern.

I made a muslin with a size 6 in the shoulders and grading down to a 0 right under the bust darts because I'm not a pear shape. My next step was to make what was supposed to be a wearable muslin out of a fabric that I absolutely had to have a year ago and recently decided I didn't like all that much.  I thought the 6 was just a tad too big in the shoulders so I went with the 4 instead.  I had a very hard time conceptualizing the collar and collar stand based on the pattern instructions, and consequently ended up destroying that part of the shirt.  If you get nothing else out of this post, get this: I strongly recommend buying Pam Howard's The Classic Tailored Shirt on Craftsy or consulting some other resource that walks you through sewing the collar and stand together as one unit before attaching it to the shirt.  The Granville Pattern instructions don't do this and it's pretty confusing if it's your first time.  Two different ladies from the RTW Fast on Goodbye Valentino suggested the Craftsy course and I can't recommend it enough, especially for beginners.  I was a little concerned when I noticed the segment for the collar was an hour long, but she is one of those instructors that makes it all seem so easy.  The Sewaholic website has several posts on sewing a collar as one unit, but the fabric used is so busy that I had a hard time figuring out what she was doing.  Buy the class!

My fabric is also busy so it's hard to tell what's happening but my collar and stand turned out crisp and neat and made me very happy. 

Sewing on buttons has not been my strong suit even though it seems like that should be the easiest part.  I end up sewing them in the wrong place a lot and then the shirt looks ill-made.  The Craftsy course gives good pointers on that as well and I had no issues with it this time. 

I skipped the beginning segments and went right to the collar portion because I had already completed the shirt up to that point.  I look forward to going back and watching them for my next Granville.  I also didn't watch the portion on sewing in the sleeves until I had already sewn my side seams with French seams.  Pam Howard sews her sleeves onto the shirt without sewing the side seam or sleeve seams first.  I had to set mine in in-the-round.  Which version do you use? Does it make a difference?  I would obviously prefer to do it her way because it seems easier.  Next time!

My wearable muslin had excessive fabric at the lower back.  Swayback adjustments are common for me.  I thought I fixed it with this version but there is still excess fabric back there.  I need to work on that.

I could not figure out how to do the sleeve plackets on my Oakridge blouse.  The Classic Tailored Shirt from Craftsy uses a sleeve placket similar to the Oakridge blouse so I can reference that next time.  I was able to follow the pattern instructions for this shirt.  They look OK but you'll notice I sewed down further in the final step on my left sleeve as opposed to my right.  Just another thing to perfect for next time!

 

This is definitely a shirt that will become a wardrobe staple.  I know many people frown upon quilting cottons for apparel.  I don't use them myself, but does anybody use nice quality quilting cottons for a shirt like this?  I know it's an endless debate but I'm curious what the thoughts are for a button-up shirt.