This was from my Instagram Stories where I had everyone weigh in on which color to choose. The coral won!
Up until this week I’d never sewn with organza. I barely knew what it was! I had seen a fabulous photo on this AMAZING Instagram feed and immediately knew it needed to be in my wardrobe. So I went to one of my favorite shops, Stylish Fabrics (their selection is huge!), and ordered it! I AM one of their bloggers, so I did receive it for free, but you guys… It’s so affordable!! This entire shirt, including the pattern, can be made for less than $20. That’s cheaper than Target.
I want to make View A and C as well, but for this shirt I used McCall’s M7838 View B. There were a few changes I made because I used Organza (here is the exact color) that I want to explain in case you want to do the same!
First TIP: Someone told me this tip and it helped a lot with all the pleating. HAND-BASTE. It goes really fast with organza because you just weave the needle up and down, not having to really pull the thread until you get to the end. This was so much better than when I tried to just use pins. Its slippery fabric.
Second TIP: You need to serge every single seam no matter what the instructions say (unless its the placket because that is totally enclosed) bc this stuff frays and it will eventually all split to the stitch line if you don’t!
Because the organza is transparent, you can see all the thread and it needs to MATCH. I didn’t want to go get 4 cones of matching serger thread so I tried out the “overlock” mode and foot on my sewing machine. It worked great even if it took so much longer. HA! The photos above show what it looks like.
Third TIP: If you look at that seam across the back of the shirt you can see that it has been stitched down. Here I added extra lines of stitching to secure the serged threads. You could also do everything with a french seam. I chose to sew each seam, serge it, and then stitch it down, usually with 2 lines about 1/4″ apart (except the sleeve and shirt hems which i folded over twice and top-stitched).
Fourth: THOSE SLEEVES. They’re the whole reason I made this shirt! Instead of stitching them in the round, I put them in flat (you stitch them on before stitching up the sides of the shirt). IT MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I can’t imagine the frustration of slippery fabric and sleeves in the round!!
In the end working with organza wasn’t very frustrating at all! It just took a little extra time and care. I made a simple t-shirt (the panama tee) for underneath using rayon jersey from Stylish Fabrics. It took no time to serge together and made the perfect under-layer. I gave it a mock turtleneck so that it would cover my neck where the organza would touch it (I didn’t want it to bother my skin).
PS I didn’t follow this tutorial, but if you want to know how to add a “pussy bow collar” (gross name!!) go here for a tutorial!
I can’t wait to sew this pattern in more fabrics! And I’m in love with my fancy shirt that I can feel ever-so-stylish pumping gas in.