My "Donny Shirt"

 

This is my "Donny shirt" and I have a lot to say about it. There is a lot I like about it and some I don't. I am not on the total gung ho bandwagon that so many are but it has many great points. Bear with me as I give my honest opinion. Before I start, know that I will make it again, with a tweak or two. I'll follow the usual review protocol I use. 

Pattern:

This is the "Donny Shirt" from Friday Pattern Company. It was my first time using one of their products. My sister loved hers and encouraged me to get on the bandwagon. Hers is a lovely pastel linen and she wears it well. She agreed with my final assessment. 

This pattern is beautifully drafted. The collar and facing fell wonderfully in to place as did the sleeves. There was no crazy ease on the sleeves, just enough to give you a lovely rounded shape to move over your shoulders. The collar met each notch with just the slightest of ease, just enough to be perfect.  Can we give some lessons to the Big Boys on this, please? I highly commend Friday Pattern company on their pattern drafting and look forward to future projects from them. 

I did add one quarter inch to all seams. Sorry, I like my 5/8th inch seam allowances and consider them necessary for alteration, current and future. It is also something I am totally used to so it works for me. You do you. I like the fudge factor to be there when needed and it made my comfort level soar on an untried pattern. I have seam rulers, which I now use a lot and really like them. 

This is a boxy pattern. I believe the finished bust size for the smallest size, which is what I used, was 40 inches. This was more than enough room so no FBA attempted. I did cut back the shoulder seams a half inch. I also added 1 1/2 inches to the length, based on the suggestion of other reviewers and am glad I did. 

Fabric:

 This entire project was sort of unplanned. I have this habit of looking at my shelves of fabric and making mental note of possibilities while the yardage sits there. I have lots of Essex Linen from Kaufman. I love this fabric and have made many garments from it. I have a fair amount of other linens as well. One day my meandering mind noticed how well the black/ivory Essex looked near some beige linen with black print on it. I pulled them both and on to the cookie sheet they went. I knew they would become something. The cookie sheet, well, that's a whole "nuther' blogpost. While I have a fair amount of black/ivory yardage in this fabric, I pulled a skirt I made back in 2016 from my stash. You see, I can't give up great fabric. I made an almost circle skirt, with pleats, out of this black Essex and literally wore it to death to work, etc. I just got tired of it. There was nothing wrong with it. I was just tired. But was I going to give away all that fabric in this skirt? Heck, no! I washed and folded it and stashed it away with the rest of my linens for a future project. That turned out to be my first Donny Shirt.  ETA: You can see the original skirt Here.

Now if you look at the skirt, you will see that to lay out a pattern is a challenge. There is a lot of bias to deal with. I did manage however. I got the sleeves and fronts from the skirt fronts that originally met at CF with a button opening, as you see above. You can also see that the original skirt had Hong Kong seams. I still had some of that fabric left and would Hong Kong seam the Donny with the same fabric! 

The bodice back of the Donny would necessitate using the center back seam of the skirt, HK seams and all. At least the seams would all match. I moved the ease to the shoulder blade areas because the skirt had darts there and there was the slightest discrepancy in color where they were . The split up gathers hid that beautifully. 

Cons: Yes, the pattern had cons. There is tremendous wasted paper in the instructions. I mean, really? One page just to say. "Let's get sewing". Then there are 3 pages in very fine print to tell ( according to the instructions ) the more experienced sewist, quickly and with no illustrations  the same directions that they give the rest of the world. Why not just give the same directions to all? I'm one of the more experienced. I, others of the same background, have this uncanny ability to glance. We don't need all those extra pages of tiny text to give us directions, separate from other sewists. We can glance, if we choose and scoot thru the directions. Arhhhhhgh,,,,, so much for tree saving! There were other pages I thought unnecessary as well, but I will leave it at this. 

The directions that were not tiny text were very good and I commend them. They are all that is needed. I did appreciate the photos of the garments in two diferent fibers but that could have easily been left on the website. Buying the pattern requires a visit, anyway, to get the pattern. 

Consstruction:

Following the directions here can make anyone succeed. I think the only issue is paying attention to the dots where the collar meets the center front seam. I  thread marked that spot. Other than that it is pretty standard construction. 

The pattern has you press and turn under the edges of the neckline/collar facing. It will later be topstitched. I chose to bind mine with Hong Kong seams in the same fabric as the original skirt. What was funny, that I noticed after having HK'd the facing, is that my seam finish was much narrower than the original seam finish on the skirt. I guess with time and repitition comes improvement. I was always taught that the goal with HK seams was to get them as narrow as possible. I was close enough here. 

I've been doing a lot of French seams lately as well and really like the way they finish a sleeve. That is what you see here. 

Here you can see a little bit of everything. I understiched my neckline with a triple zigzag (thank you Nancy Zieman) and you can see how nicely the collar and facing seams landed right where they needed to be. Really well drafted! 

I chose to bind the hem as well. 

In Conclusion:

Do I like my Donny Shirt? Do I like the pattern? 

I think the pattern is great, other than the waste of paper and ink. To save, keep the instructions on your device or  read thru carefully and only print the pages needed. It's a great pattern, beautifully drafted.

The shirt, I find is just not me, something about the plain-ness of it all. I like the neckline. The black you see above in the neckline is my sports bra, so it is cut low for someone petite. I will adjust that next time I make it. Also, and my sis agreed. there just seems to be something missing from the sleeves. Perhaps too plain for such a lovely collar and pocket? We both decided next time we make it we will add a turn up or cuff of some sort. It just needs more interest to satisfy me but that is me but actually I think it is a matter of balance.  I also think my fabric choice could be a little more colorful but that is me not the pattern. 

All in all, I think the Donny is worth your investment, definitely. Make it your own, jazz up the sleeves. Make the length and cleavage work for you and you have a real winner. And save those trees!.............Happy Sewing, Bunny