Bonn Shirt by Hazel

I recently gifted Hazel some fabric for all the work she has done to help me set up the website, and ongoing help with the business. She decided to make a shirt using a pattern from Itch to Stitch to show how versatile these fabrics are, and it turned out beautifully! 

I read somewhere that sewing and buying fabric are two completely different hobbies, and looking at my collection of fabric, I am definitely more in the second category, even though I claim to be in the first! So when I saw the range of fabrics that Vicky had selected for her first fabric club boxes, I wasn’t planning to acquire any for myself. But then I started to think about what I could make if I did just happen to get some, had a look at my Pinterest board and before I knew it I had chosen a pattern, and Vicky had offered to give me the fabric I needed. I chose the Art Gallery Meadow Bold, which is from their Legendary collection, which has a bold dark teal background with bright flowers printed on it. Yay! I was ready to go!

The first thing I did was pre-wash the fabric. I have learnt to always do this, after an incident many years ago I like to call linen-gate, so I machine washed it at 40° Usually I try to iron cotton fabrics when still damp, but I forgot this time. It was fine! The fabric didn’t seem to shrink, and the creases ironed out easily.  The printing was straight too, so I just folded the fabric in half and cut out my pattern without having to fuss.

I had chosen to make the Bonn shirt, a PDF download from Itch to Stitch patterns, and I decided to make the version with the short sleeves. I firstly made a toile (muslin) as I had to make a few minor adjustments to the shoulder area and to account for my prominent bum, but overall the fit was really good as the pattern comes in different cup sizes. The pattern is really straightforward, with minimal seams, which I thought would really let the fabric shine. I found the fabric really stable, so only had to stay-stitch around the neck. The sleeves went together particularly well. I just pinned them in without doing any gathering stitches around the sleeve head first, and they both worked first time. No stitch ripper needed!

Vicky had also given me a reel of her Scanfil thread to try, which I was a tiny bit worried about as I am a lifelong Gutterman user. I am converted! My machine seemed to like it, and the slight sheen on the thread meant that the top-stitching looked particularly nice. I have since ordered all of the colours Vicky has, and will happily use it instead of the Gutterman.

Overall, I was really happy with my finished shirt. Although the fabric can be used for quilting projects, it has a high thread count, so has a really nice draping quality. It reminds me a lot of Liberty Tana Lawn, just a little bit heavier, but still with that smooth, silky feel. It didn’t slide around when I went to cut it out, but it is soft enough when worn to hang around my curvy bits!

In terms of cost, I used 2 metres of the Meadow Bold, plus a small amount of a contrast fabric (Oval Elements) for the inner collar. I had some left over, since I didn’t have to worry about pattern matching. Vicky has the fabric available at £15 per metre, so the fabric cost was £30.00. For contrast, if I had used Liberty Tana Lawn, I would have needed 1.4 metres, at £27.50/m so would have spent £38.50. I love the amazing designs available from Art Gallery Fabrics, so I will be keeping an eye on the Sew Fabulous Fabrics website to see what Vicky orders next! I promise I will make it up instead of adding it to my stash. After all, I want to be someone who sews fabric, instead of hoarding it!