A Ralph Pink Minerva Make
How does it work?
Every month Minerva sends out a very large selection of fabrics to choose from, and you can choose any fabric from that list, whether it’s one or multiple types. Each fabric pick equates to 1 exclusive blog post of roughly 500 words with 6 images. There is absolutely no pressure in making something and, because of that, I’ve been really picky in the fabrics that I’ve been looking at. Their network of makers is also so extensive that on the first few occasions they had run out of the fabric that I had requested.
Due to the recent end of my self-imposed fabric ban, I’ve been quite strict with myself and have been able to resist the call of free fabric; Perrine talks about her different experience with this in her first Minerva post. There is nothing worse for me than to have a fabric with no pattern to attach it to. But the fates have smiled upon me and for my first Minerva post, I’ve picked this stripey black stretch shirting fabric.
What is Shirting fabric?
Shirting fabric is a broad term used to refer to a variety of fabrics, where the fabric is generally tightly woven and less sheer, making them an ideal shirt weight. Shirting fabric tends to have a high thread count and is usually yarn dyed, ensuring that the pattern is woven into the fabric.
I was a little worried about the thickness and weight of the fabric as the listing on Minerva’s site said light, which in all fairness could range from chiffon to wool and everything in between. The fabric had the softness of cotton and a unique texture due to the stripes which have been woven in. I’ve never made anything with shirting fabric before so I was excited to work with this type of material. I’m not sure how popular shirting fabric is, but I can see its appeal. It could be useful not only for shirts but for other dresses and skirts that don’t need to be lined.
I really enjoyed making my last shirt Simplicity 1279 and really wanted to make another, but I wanted the challenge of making a pattern from an indie company rather than the Big 4, so I chose the Lara Shirt by Ralph Pink. In my previous fabric requests to Minerva, I’ve had this pattern in mind so I knew that I had to make this. The Lara Shirt featuring kimono sleeves, a mandarin-inspired collar, and rolled cuffs. I feel that my fabric brings a lux glamour to this stylish kimono/military inspired combination. This pattern is aimed towards confident new sewers as there are only 6 pattern pieces and the front piece incorporates the button placket.
Any pattern modifications?
Originally I wanted to add length to the back and the arms but by the time I got round to cutting my fabric, I had completely forgotten and ended up cutting a size 8 with no modifications.
Having never worked with a striped fabric before I did end up with mismatched pattern pieces, but for me this gave the garment character. As the fabric is quite dark, it’s hard to spot the non matching stripes.
As I found my shirting to be quite lightweight it gave me the opportunity to try french seams. This technique is all about hiding raw edges and eliminating the need for any other form of seam finishing, by enclosing a seam into the seam allowance on the inside of a sewn edge. This is mostly used on very sheer or lightweight fabric so that the seam blends with the fabric, but can really be used on any fabric to enclose a seam allowance and keep a soft edge to the seam.
Despite having fewer pattern pieces, I did struggle with attaching the sleeves which usually wouldn't be such a problem. Whether it was due to the fabric having relaxed quite a bit since it was cut or whether I had accidentally over stretched it, I will never know. To help with this I added double pleats in the highest part of the shoulder, giving it a little more detail and shaping.
The instructions were good but there were definite parts where I thought it could be improved, such as the lack of information on the pattern pieces themselves saying which also needed to be interfaced.
Overall, I am happy with the finish and finding that I can style it in many different ways, making it more versatile than I thought it would be.
