I stumbled across a Grainline Studio pattern at the cutest quilting/fabric shop. It was the Lark pattern. I didn't buy it but I did go home to check them out online. After looking at the Grainline studio blog and a bunch of google searching I decided to buy the Archer pattern and I'm so happy I did.
I wanted to make a flannel shirt and my local shop has some lovely Robert Kaufman mammoth flannel so I went with the blue beauty on the left.
I printed out my pattern put it together and then I made parchment paper pattern pieces in my size. Afterwards I regretted not just buying the printed pattern.
Like a lot of other ladies I decided to cut out the pockets and the back yoke on the bias.
I worked really hard to make sure all of my pieces matched up. Again I used their blog post on matching plaid. The only difficulty I had was caused by the thickness of the fabric. However, I love this fabric and my Archer is so comfy and cozy I really adore it.
This is the muslin I made to check my size and to practice making a button up shirt. This was actually my first button up shirt. I did make a few changes to both shirts. For the muslin I cut off 1.5 inches off the bottom edge and for my flannel shirt I shortened the pattern by one inch. For the muslin I over lapped the cuffs more than the pattern calls for because they were so large. When I made my flannel shirt I trimmed the cuffs 1/4 inch on the edges and then I added an extra fold to the sleeve. I did prewash my flannel so after I finished it I washed and dried it and it did not shrink. I did not wash the muslin and so it did shrink. The picture is before it shrunk. It's just more fitted now and the sleeves aren't as long. The flannel shirt is a little loose on me kind of like a boyfriend style shirt which I really like but for my next archer I think I'm going to go down a size.
I do really love this pattern. I have plans to make a sleeveless one and a popover and maybe one that is both! My only complaints are the cuffs and the sleeves where they meet are too big. They are too long for me as well. I'm going to shorten them another half to full inch next time. I'm also not crazy about the original pocket but that's it really. I can't wait to make more of them.
