Pattern: Kalle by Closet Case
Fabric: Crepe // “Bouquet Des Fleurs” from Guthrie & Ghani (1.8m)
Little Bits: 100m Gutermann sew all thread, interfacing, buttons (etsy, from ages ago and can’t remember shop name sorry!)
Size: 8
Version: View A but with shirt collar
Mods: Lengthed front & back of view A by 10cm
This top is incredible. Kalle is very rewarding to sew and the end result is a beautifully drapey easy to wear shirt. This was a lot of firsts in sewing techniques for me. My first collar, first yoke style shirt, and first button band. Of course, because apparently, I don’t like to go easy on myself, I also did my first hidden button placket. The pattern was very easy to understand and I somehow got through all of it with results that even I couldn’t nitpick! I knew as soon as I was done I was going to make another.
I have to say the scariest bit was probably the burrito rolling method of attaching the yoke. It’s clever, and I had already done a similar thing when sewing facing to the neckline of a shirt, but it feels so unnatural. Like I’m about to sew all my hard work into an enclosed roll of despair.
The only bit of the pattern I remember having an issue with was the sleeves. It doesn’t say in the printed pattern that you unfold the freshly pressed sleeve & only sew one layer to the shirt, then fold over the other half to the inside, where it then ends up hiding the seams. I won’t go into more detail here because the guides Heather from Closet Case pattern has written are excellent and well worth a read.
Here is a link to the sew along/guides for Kalle by Closet Case: https://closetcasepatterns.com/kalle-shirtdress-pattern-sewalong/
I highly recommend pouring yourself a coffee and reading through all of them before you start. They are well written with lots of helpful imagery.
So there we are! My first Kalle by Closet Case done and I’ve already started another.
[…] absolutely LOVE my first Kalle and before I’d barely even worn it I was already making plans for this […]