A Tencel Sewaholic Granville

Dear Granville,

I have not felt this way about another pattern in what feels like forever. Your very existence makes my heart go pitter-patter. Our first rendezvous made my knees weak with delight. I think about you everyday and I wish for us to make many more of you in the near future. I promise to love you forever and ever until my dying day.

XOXO,

RED

A little too much? Maybe, but that second to last sentence is 100% truth. Before the Moneta, my normal work “uniform” was button down collared shirts with slacks. I bought most of them from Express and although they were cute, the fit and the fabric just weren’t ideal. The shoulders and bust would be too tight and I even had an episode with one shirt that left weird glittery pit stains. Turns out it’s a reaction to antipersperant, depending what the shirt is made from. CREEPY.

I thought I would rarely wear button down collared shirts anymore… that is until the Granville appeared! I know it’s been out for a really long time now, but I finally got off my booty and traced, cut, and sewed the pattern.

I bought the Granville last holiday season during a buy one get one free sale from Sewaholic. Then, in the spring I ordered this beautiful Tencel denim from Threadbare Fabrics along with some Cone Mills denim to make more Ginger Jeans. I knew when I bought the Tencel that it would become a Granville. And let me tell you, it is a match made in heaven.

The Tencel literally feels like kitten kisses and unicorn fluff when you’re wearing it. Every time it brushes across my fingers, I sigh with delight. (Getting weird again? OK, I’ll stop). But seriously, this stuff is AMAZING.

Let’s move onto the pattern. I cut a straight size 10 because I didn’t want this to be skin tight like my RTW shirts. If it ended up being too big, then I figured I could layer it over a t-shirt on the weekends and roll up the sleeves to 1/2 or 3/4 length. But thankfully it didn’t end up being too big and although there’s some room to move around in there, it doesn’t look frumpy.

The pattern has a 5/8 inch seam allowance and I decided to only sew the sleeves at 3/8 inch because when I tried it on with the 5/8 inch seam allowance, the sleeves felt too tight when I bent my arms. I blame my buffness on the gym. 😉

If I had to gripe about the end result, it would be that the sleeves are just a little too long. I’m wondering if Tasia made the sleeves super long purposefully so you can wear them with the cuffs turned up. If you turn them up, then the sleeves are just about the perfect length.

This was my first time sewing sleeve plackets and for a while, it left me scratching my head. I’m still not sure if I got them facing the correct way, but I really don’t think anyone would notice.

They kind of bell out here since the sleeves are a little too long. I think the next go-round, I’ll just keep the seam allowance to 5/8 inch and shorten the sleeves. Hopefully that will fix the sloppy looking plackets. But I have to say I’m pretty proud of how they came out considering I had no idea what I was doing!

The only major speed bump I hit while making the Granville was that @^%!# collar.

Now, this wasn’t my first rodeo with a collar and collar stand (passport shirt, chambray shirt dress, gingham shirt dress) so I knew the basics. The problem I had was the collar and collar stand ended up much longer than the top of the shirt I was supposed to sew it to. I knew darn well I cut those pieces at an exact size 10, so I had no idea where I went wrong. All of the sewing bloggers that have made it already didn’t mention this anomaly, although after the fact I did find one that shared my problem. Unfortunately I can’t remember who shared my struggles, so sorry for no link!

So I had to unpick all of that top stitching on the collar and re-sew it and the collar stand another seam allowance smaller. That seemed to do the trick! I’m hoping I don’t have the same problem with my next Granville.

Now let’s take a peek at the details!

I have absolutely no use for a bust pocket, but I decided to include one just to add interest to the shirt.

If you look closely, I sewed it on a little crooked, but OH WELL. I’m pretty proud of my top-stitching, though.

I also have to note that the placement of the buttons is spot-on. I thought I would have to make adjustments so there would be no gaping, but lo and behold, I didn’t! Hooray for wonderfully drafted patterns!

OK now time for the guts! I wanted to do flat-felled seams, but ended up just serging everything instead. I didn’t know how the fit was going to be, so it was easier to baste and check the fit before serging rather than making beautiful flat-felled seams only to find out I had to rip them all apart if the fit was off. Now that I know the fit is spot-on, it will be flat-felled seams from here on out now!

And hey, did you spot one of my new labels there?

Totes official!

Oh, I forgot to mention that this was my first time sewing a yoke using the “burrito” method. I’ve heard other bloggers wax poetic about it but didn’t understand how it could be so life-changing, but NOW I KNOW. I wasn’t quite sure how it would work, so it took me a while to wrap my head around it before I jumped in and started sewing. But it worked and now I don’t think I’ll ever go back to hand-stitching yokes again.

That’s one of the many things I love about indie patterns – they usually teach me new and faster ways of sewing. Thanks, indie pattern companies! ❤

I can’t wait to get started on more Granvilles but I have a few other projects to make first. Darn priorities. :-\

Have you made the Granville yet? Are you as much in love with it as I am? What’s your favorite TNT pattern? Share in the comments!

‘Til next time!

-RED

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