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!
