Grainline Archer Reimagined


 Grainline Archer remains one of my favourite shirt patterns.  Sometimes though, you can have too much of a good thing.



When my daughter was at The Fabric Store's summer sale, I asked her to pick up a piece of Liberty Lantana for me.  I have two Liberty Lantana shirts already and decided a third wouldn't go astray.  One of those shirts is made into Grainline Archer so this time I wanted to make something different.  The problem was, I just couldn't find a pattern I wanted to make this lovely and pricey piece of fabric into.  I wanted to make something classic that would remain in my wardrobe for a long time.  I also wanted it to work with lots of bottom options I already owned.


It was while flicking through my stash of Burdastyle back issues that I came across a blouse with pin tucks on the upper arm.  I wasn't mad about the neckline on the shirt so rather than use something I hadn't trialed, I decided to hack my Grainline Archer pattern to achieve the look I was after.  This was a pretty simple hack.  I simply retraced my sleeve and drew lines at 3cm increments beginning at the middle of the sleeve.  I then slashed and spread the pattern by 1cm at each slit before taping it back together again.  Because I now had more ease at the cuff end of the sleeve as well as the sleeve head where I intended to make the 5mm pin tucks, I opted to gather the sleeve onto the cuff.  The resulting sleeve is now full without being overly dramatic and I love the result so much that I will use this pattern piece again in the future.


I took my time with the sewing of this shirt, completing it in one hour increments over several nights.  Once I finished it, I rifled through my button stash and found nothing in a suitable pink.  Because Aliexpress deliveries are notoriously long lately, probably as a result of Covid-19, I decided to buy local and found exactly what I was looking for at Toms Emporium.  I often forget about Toms as a notions option.  I really should use them more because there selection was extensive and at 20 cents per button they were pretty cheap.


This is such a pretty and cheerful shirt, I am sure it will be one I reach for regularly over the gloomy days of winter.

As a side note; I say this every winter, photographs are hard to take at this time of the year!  The light just doesn't do anything justice!

Pattern (used before) $0.00
Fabric $35.82
Buttons $2.20
Total $38.02

Comments

  1. Long time lurker here. That is a lovely sleeve--the tucks add textural interest and a bit of fullness without falling into parody or producing blobs of fabric at the wrist that only pick up dirt as you wear the shirt. Fabulous work!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I am not a fan of non practical sleeves either! This one is practical but also has interest. I will definitely do this again.

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