Sleeveless Chambray Military Shirt: McCall’s 6436

I finished another button down shirt and am I over sewing these for awhile!

This was actually supposed to have long sleeves. I read some other reviews that complained about the ease on the sleeves to this pattern, McCall’s 6436 so I set upon removing the 3 inches of ease from the sleeve. The pattern actually has a two piece sleeve, unusual for shirts, but makes it possible to not have a placket. Which is a cool thing since sleeve plackets are a pain in the butt for me to sew.  I somehow butchered the job and the sleeve was actually too small for my armsceye! I had already cut it out and didn’t have any more of this Robert Kaufman blue linen or hemp type cotton, so it had to be sleeveless. Oh well! I’ll probably wear it more this way. Don’t be jealous, but it’s like 80 degrees in January here.I wasn’t sure what this fabric was as I didn’t ask at Superbuzzy, where I bought it. The kids and husband were waiting in the car while it was idling out front, so I was a fabric buying speed demon. Two yards and make it snappy! But I just checked now and found out it’s a linen cotton chambray. It feels almost like hemp. Here is a link to the shop. I also had forgotten that I had used the exact same fabric about two years ago for this little coat I made. Man, am I out of it. I like this tunic length as I can wear it over leggings and get the butt coverage needed. These jeans I’m wearing were on my Goodwill pile because they had a light acidy looking wash I wasn’t feeling, so I died them black and now I love them!I was really curious to make a button down shirt that was designed for a D cup. FBA’s are another pain. One reason I never buy button downs is when they fit in the bust, they are often too big everywhere else on me. And when they fit everywhere else I get the dreaded button gap. This pattern fit basically well and course had to make some adjustments. But the bust was perfect. I did have to readjust the shoulder seam. I had to cut off about an inch at the shoulder armsceye and I also had to reshape and lower the entire neckline. It was too high and too wide and there was a lot of extra fabric flopping around the neck area.. I removed about an inch and a half from the neckline, so I had to redo the collar and stand patterns, too. Even then, I still had to slightly gather and ease the neckline to get it to lay nicely.

Like I mentioned before,the sleeve had a huge amount of ease and I screwed up the pattern alteration. Moral of that story is trace your pattern piece before you chop it up.I finally got to use my vintage sailor buttons!Love this detail.And these pockets.

This pattern is a keeper now that I’ve worked on the fit. I’ll need to swing by JoAnn’s tomorrow since there is another two dollar sale on McCall’s. I can grab another pattern and use the sleeve for my next button down. How they stay in business giving away patterns like this, I have no idea. But I’m not complaining.  Here was the original  inspiration for my shirt.

Ralph Lauren Military shirt from my Pinterest Board.

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