Completed: Olya Shirt

Let’s talk about stress sewing. Is it something you do? I know that I love sewing for a number of reasons, one of which is its ability to destress me. It consumes enough of my mental energy to allow me switch off from other stuff, whether it be work, Brexit, Euan’s eczema or the state of my garden. I actively seek out sewing as a distraction and a relaxant (assuming of course that a project is going well!). But stress sewing is another matter. Stress sewing is sewing in response to mega levels of stress, and in my case at least, results in a far from perfect results. Unfortunately this shirt was a stress sew.

I should probably give a bit of background here. I mentioned here that I am going through redundancy. Basically we are getting a new system, which will significantly change our ways of working. This in turn is driving a restructure. My current job won’t exist in the new world, but there are other jobs I can apply for in the new team, elsewhere in the company, or I can take redundancy and go. A week after finding this out, we also found out that Paul’s job was also under threat of redundancy. I had mostly been doing the ostrich impression (head in the sand), but with half term holidays came time off work and time to think. I am feeling all the emotions about my job. I anticipated this happening, but didn’t know to what extent or when. The idea of having to apply for a new job is anathema to me, I haven’t gone through recruitment in over 10 years, but what upsets me the most that week is that I will likely lose my flexible working. We have loads of flexibility in my current company and role. I work 4 days, finish slightly early by taking a shorter lunch, we get childcare vouchers, healthcare, an excellent pension and heaps of annual leave. I can’t guarantee my current shift in any new role, so there is a good solid chance I will need to work full time, which I know a lot of parents do, but it's not what *I* want to do. Fraser starts school in August (I know!) and I really want to be able to take him to school at least once a week. Then chuck in the additional child care requirements both term time and holidays, plus what the boys would need to give up. I've never taken working part time as a given, but I didn't have children to never see them. Told you, all the feelings. 

While I was off, I had a day’s sewing to myself, while Euan was at a Bushcraft holiday club, and so I started on this shirt. Emboldened by the success of Paul’s shirt (I know *all* about shirtmaking now!), and loving the design lines of the Olya, as well as having the perfect fabric in the stash made an obvious project, and what better time to do than to also support the So50visible challenge.

The fabric is Atelier Brunette modal challis. It was a limited edition collaboration, I think, from a couple of years ago. Its lightweight and very drapey and it feels absolutely gorgeous to wear. I actually had it in 2 lengths, having first bought a 70cm remnant and then a further metre from a different retailer at another point. The 2 lengths are actually slightly different, with one having brighter colours and the other being more muted. They also feel every so slightly different. I guess much like wallpaper, fabrics have batches! I managed to squeeze the pieces into the 1.7m by cutting the yoke on the cross grain. I even had just enough fabric to cut the collar second time (which happens when you sew the first one upside down), but the rest was minimal scraps.

Firstly, let me say this is a great pattern. It is well drafted and very clever in design and construction. At the front, the sleeves and front yoke are one piece, but at the back there is a sleeve seam attaching it to the back yoke. This requires a very cool right angle on the shoulder which is difficult but satisfying to sew. There are also concealed pockets in the seam attaching the front yoke to the front bodice pieces. The instructions definitely assume a good sewing ability and are not hand holding at all, but there is a sewalong with more details should you require it (I’d recommend it for the shoulder/sleeve seam).

Stress sewing a complex pattern with a slippery slidey fabric was not my best idea, but in fairness I didn’t actually realise I was stress-sewing at first. And actually, it’s not nearly as bad as I first thought . My topstitching is dodgy at best, but not very noticeable. I did sew my first collar upside down, but thankfully managed to cut another (although it’s interfaced in white, not black). My edge stitching didn’t quite catch all the edges, but I rescued this with a bit of hand stitching (collar stand, cuffs and part of the button placket). My pockets are a bit messy, and I had to do a bit of jiggery-pokery to get the sleeve seam to sit right, but honestly all issues were as a result of the fabric and stress-induced slapdashery, rather than the pattern, and even more honestly, literally none of these things are noticeable in the finished garment. It still needs to stand up to repeated washing and wearing, but I am absolutely delighted with it.

I was in between sizes, so picked the smallest one, the 8, as this is loose fitting. Generally my waist is the largest size if I am between sizes, but the waist is not an issue on this pattern. I made no alterations to the pattern, other than to use a different method for attaching the collar, and to sew the bottom button hole horizontally, a trick I picked up from the Fairfield. I have no idea if this serves a purpose, but I liked the idea of it! :) In terms of attaching the collar, I used my preferred method, which is to attach the outer collar stand separately, make up the collar and the inner collar stand, then attach them to the outer collar stand (better explained here). I have tried both methods and this is the only one that works for me. 

I actually forgot about buttons, so had sewn most of it up relatively quickly before realising I couldn’t do any more till I went shopping. It was only when I paused that I realised that I was doing the whole stress-sewing thing, basically sewing as a distraction (distracting me from what I should have been doing which was my CV!), but in a way that was not careful or particular and was pretty dismissive of the bits that I was recognising were crap, as I was sewing them. Ah well, I thought, it doesn’t matter. This after taking such care over Paul’s shirt.

All in all, this could be better, but I love it regardless. I do want to invest in some fray check before I wash it, as I’m nervous about that right angle’s ability to survive the washing machine (it’s sewn in a way that’s impossible to completely encase the raw edge), as I want this to last. I keep stroking myself as I wear it, it’s just so soft and silky. I will definitely make this pattern again. I love the idea of stripes or contrast stitching, something that really show off the design details. In the meantime, I am going full Paper Theory fan girl. My next project is the Kabuki!

Before, I go, I wanted to mention a few things. Firstly, Paul's job is fine, so we are good for the time being at least.

Secondly, somewhere along the line, I have stopped referring to my boys as their nicknames, probably because they are frequently named on Instagram, and probably because they really have outgrown their nicknames. Anyway, in case you don't follow me there, here's a quick key: Euan = Small Boy and Fraser = Baby Boy.

Lastly, my hair. I decided last year to stop dying my hair. There are numerous and various reasons for this, which I won't get into, but it is something I'd been thinking about for a long while. It's one of these things that's a gradual change, so I did get quite a shock when I saw the photos I took for this post. It looks different, whiter, here than it does in the mirror. I'm OK with it turning grey/white but the inbetween process is a lot more noticeable than I realised. I don't really know why I feel the need to explain myself, but at least now you know!

Thanks for reading!