Challis Print Shirt
In my last post I mentioned I
was sewing a shirt from a piece of challis I found in my stash. I believe I purchased the fabric from
Fabrications in Richland, Michigan. I
loved the fabric and knew I had to sew something with it. There was not enough fabric to make a skirt,
so I decided to make a shirt. I used
Kwik Sew pattern K3555. I knew the
pattern had already been fitted to me because I used it to make a cotton shirt two
years ago.
Before I cut into the fabric,
I considered whether or not it would actually be appropriate to sew a shirt
from it. Although one pattern can be
used to make articles from different types of fabric, the results will not
always be the same and may or may not be the result you are hoping to see. The fabrics that were recommended on the
pattern envelope were cotton, cotton types, shirtings, silk-like fabrics, rayon
& blends, chambray and broadcloth.
Challis was not mentioned, but I knew it would probably work. I was not looking for a crisp shirt like the
one I made from 100% cotton. Instead, I
wanted a soft, easy-to-wear, blouse-like shirt.
In a shirt class I took from
Bill Voetberg in 2017, I learned how to change the placket of a shirt pattern
to a more professional-looking one. I
chose not to use that method for the placket on the challis shirt because the
fabric was soft and not crisp. I decided
to stick with the regular placket used in the Kwik Sew pattern. I think that was a good decision based on the
fabric.
When I sewed the first
buttonhole, I realized I had a problem.
It puckered a little bit. I think
it was because the fabric was so light and soft. I ripped out the buttonhole and tried again. This time I added some water-soluble topping
on the front and back of each buttonhole.
It made a big difference!
Below is a picture of the
challis shirt and the one I made two years ago with 100% cotton. Hopefully, you can see the difference you get
when using different types of fabric with the same pattern. Don’t be afraid to experiment, but review
your options carefully before cutting your fabric.
Good luck with your sewing
projects. I hope you will try something
new soon!
Judy
