Shirred Heron Shirt

 

Making a Heron Shirt by The Sewing Revival with a shirred neckline and wrists has been something I have been wanting to try since seeing  this done by a staff member in my local sewing store a while ago.  I popped it to the back of my mind as one of those things I wanted to try and it wasn't until I bought some crinkle chiffon from Fabric Vision that I decided to actually give it a go.  This chiffon has been sitting in my stash for well over a year, so it was time it was used and since it was a sale table bargain, I didn't mind risking failure.

Because my previous Heron Shirts were made using the dress version and simply shortening, I decided to buy the actual shirt pattern  after consulting with the designer and finding out there are actual differences between the two.  From memory the neckline is higher on the shirt than the dress, but don't quote me on that!

As per my usual treatment of chiffon I gave it a bath in gelatin to stiffen it enough to work with.  You can read how to go about this here.

I cut the shirt out to my usual measurements adding a small amount to the side seams to account for the French seams I wanted to use to construct the top.  I then sewed all of the raglan seams except one and then hemmed the top of the neck using a double fold.  I started and stopped the stitching 5cm from from the end of the neck hem because I wanted to enclose the last French seam into my finished neckline.  I then proceeded to hem the sleeves the same way, starting and finishing 5cm from the raw edges. It was then that I started shirring.

I stitched 4 rows of shirring on the neckline 1cm apart and 7 rows on the wrist.  I then enclosed all of the elastic ends in my French seam finishes.  I then went back and finished the neckline and sleeve hem enclosing my French Seams into the three hems.

I am pretty happy with how this blouse turned out.  If I was to make it again, I would probably add a couple of centimeters to the neckline because I do find it tends to pull down slightly when I wear it but all in all I would call this one a success.