Happy Monday everyone! Since starting my sewing journey, I’ve made plenty of dresses. I figured to jazz it up on the blog and in life, I should make a shirt. In walks, McCall 8180 or #MalloryMcCalls as it’s known on Instagram. The pattern comes in 3 views and I decided to make it in View C: the long sleeve shirt with a ruffled Peter Pan collar. Similar to my N6692 post, I’ll break this review into three parts: the fabric, the bodice, the sleeves, and the ruffle.
The Fabric
I know that the Peter Pan collar is very much on trend right now. I’ve seen makes of this pattern with the same fabric for the collar and the shirt, but I knew I wanted something that played with contrasts. Originally, I wanted to do a primary color and something muted, but I couldn’t find anything that I loved. I ended up finding two cheetah prints on Mood Fabric’s website and had an inkling the mix and matching of prints would work. I decided the base would be this leopard spotted fabric and the collar and cuff would be made with the larger leopard spotted fabric. I’m thrilled that they didn’t clash.
The Bodice
The bodice is actually a pretty simple make. It was the simplest thing in the entire pattern to make. My favorite things about the bodice were that the pattern came with a buttonhole guide, which I’ve never seen before. I also really enjoyed the finish of the bodice. I don’t have a serger, so whenever a pattern gives guidance to finish something, I live!!! My one complaint about the bodice is that it has an awkward length, so it sits in a weird place on the body.
The Sleeves
With McCall 8180, the sleeves don’t have any gathering so there’s very little ease. I’m more broad shouldered, so I was concerned that once the construction was done, I’d rip the shirt like the Hulk. Nope. I don’t have any issues with the fit of them and there isn’t any uncomfortability with the sleeves. Even down to the wrists, I don’t feel constricted at all. The pattern is great with the markings for the buttons and buttonholes. However, I had to remake one of the sleeves because I cut a hole in the fabric when I was trimming it the first time. Please don’t make this mistake.
The Ruffle
To me, the standout item for McCall 8180 is the Peter Pan Collar. It’s the portion of the pattern that I was most excited to make. Here’s the part where I let it be known that I have a love / hate relationship with this pattern. There are very few issues with this pattern, but the biggest one lies in the ruffle of the collar. The collar itself can be done. It’s actually view B of the pattern. The ruffle is such a pain because the pattern doesn’t give any guidance on how to finish it. It’s hard to tell in photos, but the ruffle looks like the selvedge end of fabric once its been washed: scraggly. It’s such a shame because the vision for the pattern is lovely, but tough to execute.
All in all, I like this pattern enough. I think that with a couple of tweaks: the longer bodice and the finished ruffle, this could be a staple pattern. I’ll still wear the shirt though because I’m proud of it and it’s beautiful.
Thank you for reading. Happy Sewing!
I’ve just bought this pattern (and I’m also doing a contrast collar, yours looks great!). Did you find the sizing quite standard? I’m normally a size 12 (UK) but its saying the waist measurement is 26inches which is about 4 inches smaller than mine! The bust and hips measurement puts me at a size 12, just the waist that is out of whack. Is it quite loose around the waist?
I also have quite broad shoulders so thanks for reassuring me I’m not gonna rip it open! haha
Author
Hi Laura. Apologies for the late response.I do think that the fit is standard. The Big 4 tend to have quite odd measurements, but for the most part, it works out. For me, the waist fits well: not too tight and not too loose. Good luck!