Sewing tops – Broad in the seams

September 10, 2020September 10, 2020

Waikerie and Willandra plums

This Willandra Pants and Waikerie Shirt combos is one of my favourite (and most worn) outfit combinations.
Muna and Broad is celebrating a Willandra Pants this week as it seemed like a perfect time to revisit this pattern, which we unfortunately released right in the middle of lockdown- just at the time where nobody was thinking about sewing slightly elevated pants which are a little bit elevated and perfect for workwear.

Size Details: I sewed a Size 1 in the Willandra Pants (New Size F), and my Waikerie Shirt is a Size i (New Size E). Not all of the patterns in the range are available in the updated size range, but I included the conversion so that when they are changed over, this info will still be relevant.

Fabric Consumption: My View B of the Waikerie Shirt uses about 2 metres of 150cm wide fabric (so long as your fabric doesn’t have a right or wrong side or a directional print), and I squeezed these Willandra Pants from 2 metres of 150cm wide fabric. This was a tight squeeze with fabric tetris but I got away without needing to cut my pockets from lining fabric.

The Willandra Pants have a flat front and elastic back. They have a unique diagonal side seam which was inspired by RTW pants (which weren’t available in plus sizes). These pants feature a diagonal side seam which wraps around the body, and the pockets are built in to the side seam with a unique and tidy finish.

The Waikerie Shirt comes with multiple views- this one is finished with mitered edges and I changed the back from an inverted pleat to a classic ‘menswear shirt style pleat’- I love that style of pleat in shirts. Not pictured, the inside yoke is from white linen and I’ve popped a Stitch Collective label in there too!

You might not know that Muna and Broad has been my full-time job/main source of income for a little over 2-months now! It’s amazing to be able to work on this passion project (especially at a time when my health would make it difficult for me to work in an office every day)!

In celebration of our Willandra Week Muna and Broad email newsletter subscribers get a 10% off discount code and if you’re a Maker or Insider supporter on the Muna and Broad Patreon, you’ll have a 15% off discount code to use whenever the mood strikes!

September 2, 2020September 2, 2020

Huon Shirt in Sister Mintaka

The Huon Shirt and Dress is the latest pattern release from Leila and I through Muna and Broad.

I’ve wanted a gathered shirt like this for the longest time but could never find the right pattern, and if I found something close then it was inevitably never in my size!

This top was inspired by French artist smocks, and much like our other patterns, it’s oversized and quite dramatic.

We were really thrilled to work with Sandeep from Sister Mintaka fabric on this release. Leila and I both got to choose the fabrics we wanted to make our sample garments from out of the gorgeous Sister Mintaka collection. For my shirt, I knew I wanted this viscose from Atelier Brunette- I find that the Atelier Brunette viscose fabric is a bit thin, but the colours here are gorgeous.

Size info: I made Size E, which matches to my bust measurement (but not my hip measurement). I knew there’d be lots of room, and since the side-seams are straight, it’s best to avoid grading out in the underarm, since it would change the shape quite a bit (especially if you were grading between multiple sizes). My current measurements are 47″ bust 40″ waist and 52″ hip

The gathered back of the Huon is where the real magic happens (for me, at least)- I love how the gathers lay and how they look. The pattern calls for lightweight fabric so that you get gorgeous gathers than hang nicely. This is especially dramatic in the dress version of the pattern!

The Huon has a hidden button placket which is constructed (and the buttonholes done) as part of the first step. I love this because even though I’m a bit more comfortable with buttonholes than I was 3 months ago- it really doesn’t matter if you make ugly buttonholes, or if they’re so ugly that you want to start again- just cut another placket. You could even cut the placket from totally different fabric because it’s entirely hidden once constructed!

This is something a little different from our other Muna and Broad patterns, but it’s so great to have it out in the world!

June 19, 2020June 28, 2020

Silk Noil Waikerie Shirt

The latest pattern from Muna and Broad is the Waikerie Shirt pattern, and this here is the collarless variation (View C) with short sleeves.

I’ve avoided buttonholes for pretty much the whole time I’ve been sewing (all my pants have elastic), even though I love shirts, and finding shirts that fit both my bust and my hips was one of my biggest issues when shopping RTW!

This Waikerie Shirt is made from moss coloured silk noil from A+R Fabrics in Australia, and I love the earthy/organic look and feel of the fabric, which feels really relaxed but also super-luxe at the same time!

Although I usually make Size 1 (our M&B sample size), this time I set my base size as Size ii and graded out at the hips to a Size 1. The split hem gives a little extra room, I’m definitely pleased that I graded out at the hip and am very happy with the final size and fit.

The idea of a collarless shirt intrigued me a lot and although a lot of the inspiration I found was from vintage 80s-90s sewing pattern illustrations, I’m pleased with how modern and versatile I think this view is!

The inverted box pleat is the standard back for Views B and C, and while I also lover the look of a box pleat, I love how the inverted pleat looks so elevated here. Of course, I’m already planning more shirts (including a long shirt dress version and a cropped version)!

June 16, 2020June 28, 2020

Waikerie Shirt Test

Here’s the happy face of someone who gave the automatic button hole on her very basic Brother sewing machine just one more go, and finally managed to end up with something consistent enough to risk trying on actual clothes! I finally put buttons on 3 shirts that were otherwise fully made, that were part of my testing for a forthcoming Muna and Broad pattern, the Waikerie Shirt.

This is the test version of the forthcoming [now available] Waikerie Shirt pattern from Muna and Broad which I made in heavyweight linen from Drapers Fabrics (now sold out).

The hems on View B (this one) and View C are finished with great looking mitered corners, there’s an inner and outer yoke. There’ll be some tweaks around the collar and neck in the final pattern so it won’t look exactly like this. I love that this shirt is exactly like the linen shirt I would have purchased for myself pre-sewing, if only it had been available in my size.

Size Details: In the test range I made Size aa as my base size and graded out to Size A just below the waist. The pattern sizes range from a 44-71.5″ (112-181.5cm) Hip and if the size range is too small for you, then we’ll grade the pattern up for you.

Fabric Consumption: I’m not sure exactly how much fabric I used. but the pattern calls for about 2.3m of 150cm fabric, and since I cut my fabric on the flat I usually manage to use even less fabric than called for.

I realised after making that I didn’t make the shirt with a solid plan for what I’d be pairing this bubblegum pink number with, so I’ll need to do some experimenting to see what’s possible but trying to style this has helped me get past some of my hangups about combining linen and tencel!

May 29, 2020May 29, 2020

Marsala Merino Pembroke

I cut out this Cashmerette Pembroke and sewed it up over the course of a couple of hours last night, after many months of thinking how nice it would be to have a merino turtleneck in exactly this shade (a perfect match for my marsala linen Zadie Jumpsuit)

This Marsala Premium Merino from The Fabric Store has been burning a hole in my stash and was purchased in anticipation of being used on the winning pattern from my ‘perfect merino turtleneck throwdown‘ back in April. I got some great feedback from Jenny from Cashmerette about some changes to the pattern for my next version, but since that required printing out a new version of the pattern (I never trace), I just went ahead and made exactly the same version as when I toiled the pattern.

I sewed a pretty ‘straight-from-the-packet’ Cashmerette Pembroke I sewed a size 20 at the bust, grading out to a size 22 by the hips. Although there was a lot of wrinkling in my previous version, this merino is a lot heftier and I like the end product a lot more than I did my test version.

Sewing knit necklines is my nemisis, so sewing on a turtleneck is the perfect way to skip that headache. I can definitely see myself making at least another couple of these in a few different colours, especially since I think they’ll be perfect for layering under summery linen makes.