Polo shirts for the win! This one is definitely a new favorite in my wardrobe and hopefully I can do a few more in the future as well. This ones feels so me, casual, but with a retro flair. I used an organic cotton rib knit from Stoff & Stil that was actually easier to work with than I had anticipated – I suspect the 5% lycra content makes all the difference.
The bodice is drafted from fitted knit top block and I added the placket and collar pieces from Burda’s polo shirt pattern. Only drawback is that the placket was too narrow for the buttons I had picked, but since they matched so nicely I decided to use them anyway, but instead of sewing buttonholes I just added snaps, so the buttons are merely for decoration.
The cuffs, collar and placket are all made of a cotton/lycra rib knit. I visited A LOT of stores until I found a blue ribbing that matched okay. There are so many navy blue shades out there, which I didn’t think of until I began looking for a match.
I drafted a separate undercollar pattern to prevent it from peaking through, but since rib knit is a very elastic material, it was hard keeping the collar pieces 100% in check.
To make the collar and placket to happen in these stretchy materials I used staystitching, baste glue, two different kinds of fusible knit interfacing and regular thread basting too. Yes, it was a lot of work trying to tame these fabrics!
Wearing my polo shirt with my new Burdastyle trousers. I love this combo!
4 Comments
Andrea
March 24, 2017 at 11:58 pmYou look stylish and confortable in your clothes (and skin 🙂 Please don’t get this wrong, but do your wear short sleeves in winter? Maybe houses in Sweden are better prepared for cold than the ones in Portugal.
Johanna
March 26, 2017 at 3:30 pmYes and yes! The secret to your first question is cardigan which I wear pretty much every day of the year and the second answer is extensive central heating systems so our apartment is in fact quite warm all year around.
Angela
March 27, 2017 at 5:18 amBeautiful work!! The placket/collar is a work of art.
Johanna
March 27, 2017 at 8:03 amThank you! It was a lot of work taming the knit, but it was worth the effort 🙂