This Sew & Tell is brought to you by the lovely Diana of Saving by Making! She sewed up a dapper version of the Perfect Polo (and what an adorable little model she has!). You can find the pattern for the Perfect Polo pattern by Blank Slate Patterns over at the Go to Patterns & Co. shop!
I’m so happy I was able to review a shirt pattern for my little guy! I’ve tried and tried to draft my own and I can never get the sleeves quite right. But I am thrilled with how the sleeves fit on the Perfect Polo. As always, there are multiple sizes included so I can keep making them as he grows…and grows…and grows… 😉
The Perfect Polo is, well, perfect because it’s a basic shirt (read: easy to customize for future projects!) with a few added details that make it fun. The fit is not girly (although it would work great for girls too, I think) and it’s nice and long for my long-waisted toddler. I made a size 3T even though he’s solidly in 2T shirts right now–I’d love it if he got a little fall wear out of it too!
The contrasting fabric additions are my favorite: the saddle shoulder pieces are quick to sew in but so rewarding in the way they really add a finished look to the shirt. The placket was tricky for me to figure out (but I’m notoriously bad at these things). Once I understood it, though, I had no trouble getting it to look great. (Tip: definitely use the link Melly provides to her website with more photos of making plackets. By comparing those photos with the ones in the pattern and my actual shirt, I finally figured out what was going on. 🙂 Also, the second one I made was easy-peasy.)
I used interfacing on one collar piece since my fabric was pretty lightweight and prone to stretching, and I would not actually recommend that technique. Either I cut the collar slightly small or the neckline stretched during sewing, because I needed to stretch the collar pieces ever-so-slightly to get them to match the neckline. That was no problem with the non-interfaced collar piece, but I had to actually break the interfacing in several spots to get the stiffer collar piece to align. (I can’t tell at all on the finished shirt, but it was slightly annoying while pinning. 🙂 )
This fabric is from a retired Old Navy shirt from my hubby’s closet. It is very lightweight (perfect for the spring!), but with careful placing and pinning I was able to get the whole polo out of the one shirt. The original was gray with a blue yoke, so I kept the same color scheme. The stripes were on the sleeves, so I cut the pocket from a sleeve to showcase them. The buttons are from a packaged assortment I picked up at either Joann’s or Hancock Fabrics.
Hooray for simple, fast, and fun projects! I’ll be making this one often, I know 🙂