This shirt fills a major hole in my wardrobe: the classic white button down. I’ve made it with the Sewaholic Granville pattern, one of my favorite tried-n-trues.

This is my sixth time making this pattern, which is probably a record for me. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to make some tweaks for future versions. As I’ve worn my other Granvilles over and over (and over) again, they’ve shrunk just enough to be a little tight. I need to take that into consideration on my future versions, and either size up, or prewash my fabric a couple more times before cutting into it. This shrinking also means that the bust dart is a little high in my other versions of the Granville. I can see in these pictures that this is the case for this shirt too, even though it hasn’t gotten a chance to shrink. Note to self: lower bust dart on next version!

I ordered this fabric online from Mood, sight unseen, but was drawn to its texture. It was described as “optic white stretch wale pique.” It is thicker than I had expected. It’s not quite canvas weight, but I wouldn’t describe it as shirting either. It is more of the weight of a lightweight denim. The description that it could be used for crisp shorts should have been a giveaway. Its drape is quite stiff and it keeps its shape, which is why this Granville appears to flare out more at the hips than my others.

Since this is a TNT for me, I’m being a little nit-picky. My complaints are really fairly minor, and, overall, I’m very happy with this shirt.

I also got to get some sewcializing in while making this shirt. There is a new local fabric and yarn shop in Durham (where I bought the interfacing and buttons for this shirt), and they host a weekly craft club. I finished everything up on my machine and then took it to the craft club to sew on the buttons in the company of other crafty ladies. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

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Pattern: Granville Shirt by Sewaholic Patterns in size 2
Fabric: 2 yards 100% cotton wale pique  from Mood @ $13.99/yard
Notions: 6 buttons, interfacing from Freeman’s Creative
Cost: $27.98 fabric + $5.00 interfacing + $1.98 buttons + $1.49 thread = $36.45
Time: 6 hours