White Archer

Without further ado, here is my white Archer! I've been building up this make for quite a while now, so I'm very pleased to finally blog about it. Since I made and blogged a muslin of this pattern, I don't have as much to say about this make as some of my others. 

The fit of the Archer is more casual and less fitted than my other white button-down shirts. For my next version, I may take in the side seams some around the waist. I think that the shirt fits appropriately, it's just not a look that I normally go for.  It feels more me tucked in with the sleeves rolled up, though. 

Sorry for the crappy iPhone photo of the French seams

There were a number of upgrades I made this time around, after making a wearable muslin. First, and probably most importantly, I used French seams throughout the entire shirt. There are no exposed seams. Anywhere. The sleeves are even inserted using French seams. This is a first for me, and I am very proud of it.  French seams on the sleeves means that I can roll up my sleeves without worrying about exposing any unsightly seams (gasp!). 

I credit another major upgrade in this shirt to an impulsive purchase one afternoon. After seeing a few people instagram pictures of buttonhole chisels during #bpsewvember, I decided to order one of my own. This little guy is great. It makes super clean buttonholes, and is easy and fun to use. So much better than attempting to open buttonholes with my scissors. This was a great $10 investment.

In some of these pictures, the shirt seems to be pulling around the armpits.  I'm not sure what is going on there. It feels fine when I wear it, so it may be due to the fact that I'm attempting to stand up straight for once. I'll keep an eye on that as I wear the shirt.

One regret with this shirt was my cheapness when it came to buying the fabric. I bought the cheapest possible white shirting at Joann's back before I made the muslin, lacking confidence in my ability to successfully make a button-down. After my favorable muslining experience, though, I wanted to do a great job on the shirt, and took my time being careful with topstitching and precise pressing, despite using fabric that is not of the highest quality.

Despite the fabric's shortcoming, I am ridiculously proud of this make.  You may have gathered that from me talking about it for the past what, 3 months? I am actually planning to wear it on Thanksgiving with a purple sweater. 

There will almost definitely be more Archers in my future.  For the next version, I want to try out a flowy, silky fabric. Thoughts on that idea? 

Abstract

Pattern: Grainline Studio's Archer

Fabric: 2 1/2 yards of cheap white cotton/poly blend shirting from Joann's

Cost: $7 for fabric + $3 in buttons  = $10

Time: ~8 hours