Move over – there’s a new shirt pattern in town! I’ve sewn the oversized shirt pattern by the Assembly line and it’s love at first sew!

The Assembly Line has really managed to nail the proportions on this shirt. I think it gets that oversized but feminine look absolutely perfectly. I like its simple but classic style. It feels roomy but not shapeless and I feel that the back view looks as a good as the front.

All wins!

Really, I could end the blog post here with: I love this damn shirt.

But don’t worry, I won’t!

I do love making shirts and have quite a few solid favorite patterns already. I really didn’t think I was in the market for a new shirt pattern until I kept seeing lovely versions of this popping up everywhere. In my own shirt-making journey, I have made too many Kalle shirts by Closet Core Patterns to count. I have drifted a little bit from this original favourite shirt pattern because I have realized that it is just a bit too tight around the arm on me and the version I have printed is now too small so I have been a bit too lazy to start from scratch with the pattern again. My current go-to favourite is the Olya Shirt by Paper Theory which I think I have now sewn 4 times. I have no gripes at all with the lovely Olya, it’s interesting, functional and fits me comfortably all over. It can be a pain if you need to pattern match with the oddly shaped yoke, however, so I thought that a more simple design could find a place in my shirt pattern arsenal.

And, yeah, I think The Assembly Line’s Oversized Shirt definitely makes the grade in this regard!

Pattern size gripes

The Oversized Shirt is available in two possible size variations – either XS-L or XL-3XL. According to the body measurement chart, the 3XL accommodates a maximum seat measurement of 135-139cm.

(****UPDATE 28 JANUARY 2021***** Since the time I purchased this pattern and wrote this post, Assembly Line has now made it possible to purchase the entire size range if you purchase in PDF form! YEAH!!! The below comments as to how annoying it is to not be able to access a full size range were made before this new product was offered)

But it really bugs me that there is no overlap at all between the smaller size range and the bigger size range. I know that there are other companies who also do this (e.g. Vogue patterns), but in my experience, the majority of indie pattern companies who do offer extended size ranges do not present their size ranges for sale in this way. (Please don’t feel the need to point out to me that there are some indie companies that sell their patterns in single sizes only. I know!! But I never buy from those companies because it is totally insane – why present sewing consumers a product which typifies the worst possible characteristics of RTW?)

Megan Nielsen patterns for example, offers a size range of 0-20 or 14-30, creating a generous overlap of 4 sizes. Closet Core Patterns also offer their size ranges as 0-20 or 14-30, again that same generous 4 size overlap, but if you purchase them, you actually get access to the entire size range from 0-30. Helen’s Closet also grants access to the full size range of 0-30.

My measurements for the Oversized Shirt fell into both the L (bust, hips) and XL (waist), leaving me unsure which size to purchase – do I chose XS-L or XL-3XL? In the end, the L was closer to most of my measurements so I went with the XS-L option.

While my interests are partly self-motivated, I genuinely feel that there is a bit of an issue here. Statistically, it would seem that, whatever is the size range available, there will always be more customers who lie at the centre of that range, then at either extremity of the range. So it stands to reason that, if you simply divide the size range down the middle, you are potentially inconveniencing the maximim possible number of your customers. In addition, when that split is made between the sizes of L and XL, those individuals who may be inconvenienced and unable to grade between the sizes they may wish are people who do have the experience of starting to be unable to fit into “standard” RTW sizing. Who know what it feels like to go into a store and not find antyhing in their size. In other words, it’s a group of people who have already felt isolated and disadvantaged by sizing, in one way or another.

Finally, I also very firmly believe that for PDF patterns, there’s no reason whatsoever to not give every customer access to all available sizes. Again, most indie companies that I buy from do this.

We sew because our bodies don’t fit into fixed predefined categories and we want to embrace our uniqueness. I find sizing divisions like this, which hark back to RTW norms and values, deny the capacity of every sewist to easily adjust patterns to their specific needs and there’s just no need to do this when a pattern is available as a PDF.

And, finally, I’m immensely privileged to even be in the position to have this little rant – being fortunate enough that there are plenty of patterns available in my size.

Using the Oversized Shirt Pattern

This was my first time sewing a pattern from The Assembly Line. I found the instructions very easy to follow and straight forward. Overall, it felt like a high quality product.

I did find that it used rather simplified techniques for a shirt pattern: the sleeve placket isn’t a proper placket, just some creative folding and sewing and the back yoke isn’t attached using the burrito method. These simplified techniques likely make the pattern quite accessible and I definitely think it would make an excellent first shirt pattern.

The shirt hem is a basic micro-hem but I found that mine came out a bit wavy over the curves and feel that I would have achieved a better result using bias binding. Speaking of which, the week this post goes up (so way too late for me) Meter Meter just launched matching bias binding in this exact fabric!! Would have been perfect!!

Personally, I found myself altering the assembly techniques a little at times in order to get a neater finish. I also added basic details like top stitching at the cuff and collar, which were not included in the instructions.

Overall, however, it was an absolutely sound set of instructions – it has just clearly made a choice to cater to more beginner sewists and be minimalist in nature.

One thing perhaps worth mentioning is that I was a little confused by the line drawings as to the pockets on the shirt. I had thought that the line drawing indicated that the pockets were secured to the front of the shirt. I have used this technique in the Bondi Dress by Tessuti Patterns and I quite like it. Instead, however, they are actually just regular in-seam pockets, nothing special.

I found that the pockets looked odd with the lack of opacity of my fabric. You could exactly where they were flopping around at any given moment. I decided to topstitch around to the front so that they would at least be visible in a consistent position. I’m still a bit in two minds as to whether to just remove it.

Crispy crepe

The main reason I haven’t done this is because, well, the fabric is lovely but rather delicate.

It’s Crispy Crepe from Meter Meter, which is a blend of mostly tencel, with a bit of polyester. It has a beautiful texture to it and is kind of like wearing a cloud.

However, it didn’t take well to unpicking and my pins even left some small holes so I had to treat it with care.

I find buying white fabric online to be one of the biggest challenges because of the transparency factor. In the end, this fabric is not really opaque enough for present purposes so I have to wear a skin-toned top underneath for modesty. Doesn’t bother me too much as I often do so anyway for warmth with a lightweight shirt, but had I been buying in person I probably would have ruled this out as too transparent for a shirt.

The buttons I’ve used here also come from the Meet Milk collection from Meter Meter.

In the end though, the finished shirt is definitely hitting all my classic shirt vibes despite its lack of complete opacity, so nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I have at least 4 other pieces of fabric that I would love to make into new versions of the Oversized Shirt, so you will see this one again. The only thing holding me back from going totally nuts on this pattern (seriously, I could see myself sewing one for each day of the week if I don’t show restraint) is that the oversized silhouette doesn’t necessarily work the best with the wide legged pants which dominate my wardrobe. I feel it looks best with a skinny leg shape and, well, the jeans in this photo and a few pairs of legging are basically all that I own in that regard.

Although, the shape does work pretty well as an open shirt-jacket with my wide-legged pants (sorry, I think I may be the only one out there that just can’t bring myself to use the word “shacket”!!)

Oh and I also like the idea of seeing how it works lengthened to a dress and belted.

Don’t worry, I’ll let you know how that goes too!

More TAL Oversized Shirt madness

** This section is an update to the original post. Date of update is 10 March 2021**

Well, as promised, I have definitely made more of this pattern.

You can see a full blog post about how I lengthened it to dress length here.

Plus, I’ve also made another version exactly the same as the original.

I gave in to the temptation of the large-scale polka dot tencel released last year by Meet MILK. I had actually been planning on totally resisting this fabric until I came across it in person at Cross and Woods and was pleasantly surprised by how good it felt. It was thicker than I was expecting, I had been worried it would be too flimsy. To the contrary, it felt drapey but substantial and I was impressed by its apparent quality (although true quality can only be assessed with longevity!!).

I purchased the minimum amount of fabric recommended for my size and I wish I had purchased a little more than recommended. If you are dealing with a very distinct print like this, I would suggest doing so. I would have liked to have been a bit more discerning in my pattern placement to avoid some views being a tad jarring to the eye. However, the limited amount of fabric I had didn’t let me do so! It was like this or no shirt!! No worries, I still love the shirt anyway, so I hope her feelings aren’t hurt!

So, here are all the angles of a version of the Oversized Shirt which is much more, well, distinctive than the original white version!

Cue photo dump now 🙂

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If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.