So, I think that these constitute Kalle Shirts numbers 6 and 7 for me. Including some long-sleeved Kalle Shirt action!

Ummm, yeah, so I guess we are in solid TNT territory.

And, in view of the fact that I’ve already dedicated thousands of words and tens of hours to this wonderful pattern, I’ll try to keep it on the short side. If you’re craving more details, you can read all about my previous Kalle Shirts here, here and here.

Ummm, no, I’m not addicted to the Kalle Shirt. What makes you say that?

My Kalle Cropped Shirts

Both of these shirts are view A of the Kalle Shirt from Closet Case Patterns. I used my existing pattern pieces, which means that these are both a size 12, but with a bit of additional shaping cut into the side seam.

The white version is made in the divine white linen from The Fabric Store. I had initially intended to sew a Kalle Shirt dress version exactly like the white one that Heather Lou wears in the streets of Barcelona on her blog but I had a last minute strike of ‘sensible’ and decided to sew something I’d be likely to get more wear out of. I used the regular placket for the Kalle Shirt because I wanted to showcase these amazing minimalist buttons from Arrow Mountain.

In terms of modifications, I slightly rounded off the collar pieces and the cuffs, to give the edges a softer feel.

Kalle Shirt Sleeve Expansion Pack

This is the second time that I’ve sewn with the Kalle sleeve expansion pack. And while I do love the sleeves I have, yet again, I had some difficulty with the sleeve expansion. My sleeve pieces were huge compared to the armhole I had to set it into! But, since the sleeve piece only barely went all the way around my arm comfortably, I couldn’t cut the sleeve down at all. So I had to hack at the arm hole a little to widen the space.

I’m still not sure what I did wrong to make all of this happen!

It could well have to do with the fact that I am using older pattern pieces which I have kind of modified and hacked to death, likely losing some markings and notches in the meantime. I think that for me next time at Kalle, it may be time to reprint, re-measure and start from scratch!

I did just want to share one particular stupid thing that I did which made me laugh at myself, though.

The reason I write this blog is, basically, that I like the idea of providing useful “warnings” that might help others making the pattern to avoid my mistakes. When I first wrote about using the sleeve expansion pack, I wrote a big “BE CAREFUL”:’ the pattern says to “sew until your collar is assembled, then switch to these instructions for sleeves and side seams”. But this is a little unclear because in the original instructions, the side seams are sewn before the collar. So if you literally ‘sew until your collar is assembled’ you have already sewn your side seams.’

So my word of advice was to be careful and make sure you check before sewing up the side seam.

Well, I didn’t heed my own advice and ended up with my side seam sewn up too early and having to attach my sleeves in the round. Which made it even more difficult to deal with the problem of things not quite matching up.

Moral of the story: I should probably re-read my own blog posts before re-sewing a pattern! In addition to aiding others, I might just be able to help myself!!

Kalle Shirt: French Cuff Action

While we’re speaking sleeves, I love the feature French Cuff of the Kalle Shirt Sleeve expansion and I will be most likely to wear it cuffed upwards most of the time.

Which means it would have made more sense if I had top-stitched the cuff with the pretty side of the top-stitching on the inside. Since that inside will be visible most of the time.

Well, hopefully I re-read this post and remember that tip the next time I make a long-sleeved Kalle shirt!

Kalle Cropped Shirt No. 2

Can I just say that I love this pattern so much now that I only sew it in batches?

The second version is a Sashiko inspired cotton that I bought from Miss Matatabi ages ago. It is actually quite a heavy weight rigid cotton, so it holds its shape quite differently from the linen.

The hidden placket, cuffs and facings are all done in some leftover cream heavyweight linen from The Fabric Store.

Speaking of which, I only realised after sewing this that if you are going to make a contrasting placket, you should also sew the collar in your contrasting fabric!!

Please, someone, learn this lesson from my mistake!!

Of all the plackets for the Kalle Shirt, I really love the hidden placket – it does just feel like total sewing magic and makes me sooo proud when I pull it off! And it’s not actually complex to do!!

Kalle Shirt: Curved Hem Challenges

I do have to confess that, after three times, I still find sewing the curved hem on view A of the Kalle Shirt a little difficult.

While the end result is just lovely, I still don’t feel that I’ve really managed to get it quite right. The fact that I’ve ‘lost’ the marked dot on the pattern piece that’s supposed to help with this and haven’t gotten around to reprinting the pattern to see where it should be probably explains the entirety of my difficulties!

I wonder whether it is also possible to finish version A with bias binding, because I do find it a lot easier. Has anyone out there tried that successfully?

Well, I’m guessing that’s probably enough Kalle Shirt action for now. Oh but, ummm, you know what? I actually already have fabric waiting for one more. Only one more, I promise…

What about you, how many Kalles have you made? Or what number make are you up to for your favourite TNT?

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.