I would like to officially welcome Olya Shirt number 4,657,298 to my wardrobe.
This pattern needs no real introduction. I have sewn the Olya Shirt by Paper Theory six times before, so it’s pretty clear that I like this pattern! You can read about previous versions, here, here and here, if you’re inclined to jump down an Olya rabbit hole.
The Olya Shirt goes up to a size 20, catering for a hip measurement of up to 120cm. The design has a lot of ease, so it would probably cater for a body size a couple of sizes up from the maximum size 20. Still, it’s currently a non-inclusive size range.
My Olya shirt is a size 12, but with a few modifications (read more below). I have also, after several attempts both ways, decided to skip the pockets on the Olya Shirt from now on as I prefer the clean line created by the yoke without the pockets.
So, what can you say about a pattern that you’ve sewn seven times?
Well, if you want intricacies on sewing this pattern, I’d suggest you check out one of the previous posts about the Olya shirt, but the reason I did an entire post on this one even if it is entirely a TNT is that I wanted to share a little bit about what inspires me to sew a pattern.
Playground envy
I have to say that a fairly regular source of inspiration for me is that I see someone wearing something which I find utterly fabulous.
That was the basis for this Olya Shirt.
I saw a woman at the playground with her kids wearing an oversized blue shirt with white pants and I thought, “I want that shirt”.
This is actually one of my favourite things about being a sewist. We can glance at someone wearing something and go “I can make that, only I can do it so that it is even better for me!”.
But, the thing is, though, I already had a pale blue shirt. A soft cotton one which I’d had for almost a decade. I went home and tried it on. It didn’t fit well enough that I would reach for it on a regular basis (too short, too tight in the biceps). But, it equally didn’t fit poorly enough that I thought I could justify sewing a new version. It was technically wearable.
I found myself at a wardrobe impasse!
The age-old sewing question “can I really justify sewing this?”
Searching for the perfect garment
One thing I think about, probably too much, is what makes me feel good in the clothes I wear.
And I’ve realised that one thing that is crucial to me is that my garments, especially shirts, need to be the just the right shape to coordinate properly with the items I want to wear them with.
I feel that this is one of the biggest “cheats” when we look at highly stylised images of garments in fashion magazines and online – they look perfect because they are all secretly pinned, re-sewn or whatever to be the precise length shape that they need to be to go with a specific outfit on a specific model. Yet they are then all passed off as thought they are supposed to fit every individual who buys them just as well every single day!
Well, we don’t have the luxury of being able to do that for every possible outfit, but as sewists, we do have the capacity to make modifications to come up with garments which area “best fit” for our wardrobe in general.
When I looked at the RTW old blue shirt that I didn’t wear much, I realised that I found it too short to wear with a lot of silhouettes and that I wanted something longer.
I had a couple of spring jackets that I thought would look lovely with a blue shirt, so I decided to make a more oversized blue shirt which was would be the perfect length to coordinate with those jackets.
After a bit of measuring around, I settled on lengthening the Olya Shirt Pattern by 12 cm to achieve my desired length. The Olya Shirt I have cut out was a size 12. I knew that by lengthening it, the shirt would need to fit over by hips and bum, so I also modified the side seam to be slightly more A-line from the waist down, to give me that bit of extra wriggle room.
These slight tweaks worked really well and I’m very happy with the overall shape.
How NOT to lengthen an Olya shirt
I did make a classic sewing mistake here though – I lengthened the shirt but forgot to lengthen the placket!
Oh no!!!
I had only purchased the recommended fabric length of 1.75 cm. One thing I adore about Paper Theory patterns is that they don’t over-estimate fabric consumption but they give you an accurate consumption that is designed to minimise fabric wastage.
I had neglected to notice, however, that my fabric was slightly narrower than the one the 1.75cm fabric requirement is based on, so it was extremely tight to fit the pattern on it (entirely my own fault for not checking the fabric width!).
When I realised I had messed up the placket, I had a moment of panic!
There was deinitely not enough fabric leftover to cut out a new placket.
But I was able to find enough scraps to make a placket “extension”.
So don’t forget to adjust your placket length!
But all’s well that ends well and I’m very pleased by how this one turned out.
Although I felt a bit guilty about sewing a blue shirt when I already own a blue shirt, this one fits my body and needs at the moment with infinitely more comfort and life’s too short to endure a too short shirt with too tight sleeves any longer!
Before signing off, the fabric is one I have been sewing with a little obsessively at the moment: washed linen viscose from Stragier tissus.
It is gorgeous and perfect for this pattern and there’s not much more I can say on that!
Perhaps just thanks to that stylish woman at the playground who inspired this Olya Shirt!
But, just to finish up with some “sewing in real life” reality, the first time I wore this shirt (apart from these photos), I ended up diving towards the shore from a canoe in order to prevent it from capsizing, leading to massive grass and duck shit stains all over it!!
It is currently undergoing intensive laundry treatment and, in the worst case scenario, will become the classiest slightly-stained-messy-outdoor-activity shirt ever!!!!!
If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.