FO: Red Boogie Retro Shirt

This is the shirt that broke me out of a bit of a sewing rut. I was cranking things out pretty well at the beginning of the year, then I took a break, then I had the epic medieval costume to make which caused me to take another break... You know the cycle, I'm sure. This shirt, though, was just cute enough yet easy enough to make me buckle down and sew something again after several weeks. Here are the deets:

I first learned about the Boogie Retro Shirt on the Curvy Sewing Collective's Facebook wall. Scrolling through one day I saw the super cute version made by Andrea of The New Vintage Wardrobe (She hasn't updated her blog in a long time but she's quite active on Facebook and Instagram). I asked her what pattern she used, which lead me to the pattern, which I put down on my list to get in the future. When We Sew Retro had a sale earlier this year, I decided to jump on this pattern and officially make it up.

The Boogie Retro Shirt is a pdf only pattern designed by German sewist Cecelia Theresa. It's a basic tee with a 50s style squared out sweet heart neckline, your choice of gathers or pleats at the bust, and your choice of long or short sleeves. For my first go I decided to make up the gathered bust with short sleeves.

Since this was my muslin and I knew I was making some changes to the pattern, I used this red cotton interlock knit that I picked up in a thrift store for $1, therefore I wouldn't be devastated if the top didn't work out. Spoiler alert! The shirt didn't exactly work, and I was still disappointed, lol. Now I need more red fabric. ANYWAY - so what didn't work, you may ask, on this seemingly cute shirt?

The neckline. I had my reservations about whether this would even be a possibility for my because of my religious garments I wear. I've mentioned them before (and they are one of the reasons I like to sew - so that I can get styles I love that are not so low cut that I can't wear them). The sides of the neckline are actually designed to be gathered up a bit and make an almost triangular neckline that is very wide at the sides. I figured I could just not gather as much and it would be fine, but I ended up not being able to gather the sides at all. I just sewed them on straight, but it still wasn't quite enough for my needs. It may be hard to see in the photos, but it's pretty obvious in real life - the neckline is just barely too wide at the corners and show my garments easily.

After noticing the neckline issue (and being bummed) I also noticed the pooling fabric in the arm pit area, which I think is due to the shape of the arm hole itself on me (I need it more scooped out). And I doubt you can see it here, but the bust also is a little loose - like my boobs aren't quite big enough to fill in all that space - which combined with the garment issue and the extra fabric at the arm pits means I could easily flash people if I lean down. Not fun. As I've grown more used to making my own clothes to my own specifications, I am much less inclined to fiddle with clothing throughout the day that is just not quite sitting right, you know? Constant fiddling is a sign of bad fit. Anyway I was so bummed about the fit issues that I didn't even bother to fix the pucker I got at the front of my left sleeve.

See the pucker? It's pretty glaringly obvious, lol. I also know that I didn't sew the front neckband on as intended. While the instructions are pretty good, the original pattern is in German and the instructions are translated to English. I'm not sure if it was lost in the translation or if it was just my brain not working right, but I could not wrap my head around how the band was intended to be sewn (spoiler alert! I figured it out the next time, lol).

In spite of the issues I had with the fit on this version, this pattern had great potential for me if I could work out the tweaks. I think the neckline is very flattering on me and slightly different but still classy. All good things! So while I can't really wear this one without constant worry about showing more than I like, I did go on to immediately make another. This is a great pattern and it's so quick to whip up! I'm really hoping to figure out the fit so I can churn out a bunch :)

Summary:
Fabric: 1 yards tube of red cotton interlock knit - $1 (thrifted)
Pattern: Boogie Retro Shirt by Cecilia Theresa Designs - $4.98
Notions; red thread - $0.50, clear elastic - $0.15
Time: 3 hours
Total Cost: $ 6.63

(P.S. I did wear this out to dinner with my husband and had no major issues with flashing, so I may just deal with it for this fun color, lol. I'll be fixing that pucker though!)