I decided that sewing a button up shirt with Simplicity 1538 would be my next project. And I also decided to use a piece of plaid fabric that I’ve had for several years.

I had purchased the fabric from Fabric dot com (no longer in business). It’s a very soft but weighty flannel.

The Pattern

Because I wanted something that would fit me well, I chose Simplicity 1538. This is a pattern I’ve used before. It’s a fairly straightforward shirt pattern. I did want to use this pattern rather than McCall’s 6613 that I have used recently.

I like the fit of this particular pattern because it is not a blousy. Because this pattern is designed for women, there are darts on the front which, of course, give it better shaping.

Simplicity 1538

Plaid Matching Gone Awry

So, I did attempt to match the plaid on the front in particular. When laying out the fabric and pattern, I started with the back. Since this is the largest single piece, I thought it would be easiest to start here. I had already traced the back patten piece so that I had two pieces that could be put on the fabric (fabric right side up). Then I moved on the the back yoke. I think I my main issue is that I intended to cut out the front placket on the bias. I completely forgot to do this, and therefore, it is as it is. Oh well. It will most certainly be worn by me.

Contrast

The contrasting fabric is something that I had leftover. I purchased this from Spoonflower. I have used this for holiday placemats. Luckily, that fabric has the same colors as the main fabric, so it works well together.

The Result

Sewing a button up shirt with Simplicity 1538 or another pattern is a fairly easy process. It’s easier, of course, if you aren’t using plaid or a pattern that you want to match up.

As far as the buttons are concerned, I used some flat silver buttons that I had in my button stash. They go very well with the gray of the shirt.

When applying buttons, I start with the button at the bust, that way I can more easily avoid gapping there. Then I measure the distance for the others so that they are spaced evenly (for the most part).

If you’d like to see my YouTube video about this process, you can watch this:

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