A night out with Archer

Some slightly different pictures today from a lovely evening out at an amazing little cinema in Swansea called Cinema and Co.  If you are in the area, it is definitely worth checking it out.  There was something very special being able to sit in a cinema on a sofa, eating pizza and drinking a glass of wine!

And now on to my shirt!  This was my second Archer Shirt.  My first was a classic Archer and unfortunately is wearing out.  This one is the Grainline Popover variation, and is sized down for a slightly closer fit.  This one is a size 0, although my measurements would direct me to cut a size 4.

I made a couple of tweaks to keep this very simple shirt unique.  The main shirt is a polycotton from Trago, but I used a contrasting floral cotton in a couple of places including the inner yoke collar stand and the cuffs.  I also used this tutorial from Grainline to change the pocket construction and make them a subtle feature too.

Shirt making does seem quite a undertaking.  There are a lot of pattern pieces, buttonholes and processes, but it is well worth the effort.  Each stage is actually not difficult in itself, but I would advise taking it slowly.  There is also an excellent sewalong for the archer shirt on the Grainline website which is very helpful.

I would say that there are a couple of fiddly parts to this shirt, simply because they need to fit together properly, and there is also quite a bit of accurate topstitching required.  In particular, the collar and plackets are sections to take your time over.

If you are considering it, I would say that this was certainly not something to attempt as your first project, but if you are comfortable following pattern instructions, sewing straight and (fairly) accurate topstitching and have a few projects completed, then there is no reason that you couldn’t complete this pattern.  The instructions and drafting really are that good.

I do love this shirt, though it is perhaps a little small over the bust.  I have plans for a couple more of the basic Archer shirts and I think I will size back up to the 4 for some extra wearing ease.

 

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