Candy Stripe (Sewaholic Granville)

As part of my quest for the perfect fitting oxford shirt, I\’m making a few variations, and here is the girliest one by far!

Doing the tiniest fit adjustments here: first, I shortened the sleeve (at the lengthen/shorten line) by 1/4\” since the Granville sleeves have always been a tiny bit long on me. Then I did a 1/4\” broad shoulder adjustment, which affects the front bodice and back yoke pieces. It only took a few minutes and I don\’t know why I didn\’t do it before! I don\’t actually have broad shoulders (this isn\’t one of my usual adjustments) but since I plan on wearing this buttoned up all the way, it just gives me a little extra room across the shoulder. I also did the smallest scant 1/4\” full bust adjustment (my first FBA ever haha) and slimmed down the hips about 1/2\”. Overall, it was lot of teeny adjustments that improve the fit almost imperceptibly. I felt confident in making these changes sans muslin because the original Granville fit me pretty well already and none of the changes are that drastic.  You can\’t really tell in photographs which I why I\’m not bothered by just covering up the whole shirt with a sweater 🙂 Y\’all have seen 80000 Granvilles from me already.

Unlike the very subtle fit adjustments I made, the design changes I made to this one are pretty obvious! Instead of the Granville collar piece, I cut out a little rectangle and gathered it to make a sweet ruffled neck. Similarly, I shortened the cuff pieces and inserted a little ruffle there as well. I plan on wearing this most underneath a sweater or sweatshirt and having the little ruffles peek out of the neckline and cuffs is just the cutest thing in my opinion. This is a really easy \”hack\” that changes the whole look of the pattern!

If you want to do the same, here are the dimensions I used on this size 6. You can use roughly the same dimensions on shirts around this size and just gather to fit:
– shortened the cuff by 5/8\”
– cut neck ruffle 3 1/4\” x 32\”
– cut sleeve ruffle 2 1/2\” x 16\”

To make the ruffles, fold in half lengthwise right sides together, sew short edges, flip right side out, press, two or three rows of basting stitches along open long edge, gather to fit cuff length or collar band length. Super easy!

I love how it looks dressed here, peeking out from underneath my sweater, but this change would also look super cute with a blazer or nicer cardigan and a pencil skirt for a more feminine take on business wear. The fabric I used is a really nice Egyptian Giza cotton oxford shirting from Sewing Supply Plus, and it feels so smooth and wonderful–noticeably nicer than other Oxford cloth I have sewn. It was great to sew and should wear really well–I anticipate wearing this shirt constantly!

I have another length of Sewing Supply Plus oxford cloth with which I was planning to make a classic white shirt, but I love this version so much I\’m thinking I should make a ruffle collar Granville in white too–I love the little ruffle peeking out and white would go with everything! Once again, how many Granvilles is too many..?

xoxo,