Waikerie Shirt – 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!

July 26, 2020August 17, 2020

Liberty print Waikerie Shirt

I bought this liberty print cotton on a bit of a whim shopping in person at The Fabric Store here in Christchurch. It was pretty unusual for a liberty print, and a bit more large-scale/abstract than usual.

I bought this fabric intending to turn it in to a Waikerie Shirt (from Muna and Broad). This is View B of the Waikerie, and although I don’t look terrible pleased in these pictures, I actually like the shirt a lot.

I love the feel of the tana lawn, but really struggled with the ‘look’ of the shirt after making it- it felt a bit too formal for every day wear. Since most of my pants are pretty relaxed looking (and generally casual looking natural fibres), I felt like the texture of the shirt and the pants was not a great match. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be exploring adding this shirt in to capsule wardrobes to see if I can find some new ways to wear the shirt!

Size details: I made Size E graded to size F at the hips. My current measurements are Full Bust 48.5″ (123.19cm), Waist 41″ (104.14cm), Hip 54″ (137.16cm).

Fabric consumption: I purchased 2 metres of this fabric and cut on the open.

I couldn’t decide on a good fabric match for the hems of these, so I actually hand-stitched the mitered hem at the front and back of the shirt. I love the square hem inside the shirt, and the gentle dimpling of the hand stitched hem bring me a lot of pleasure when I see it. I think it was definitely worth the effort to finish the shirt without top-stitching the hem.

July 11, 2020July 16, 2020

Chartreuse linen Waikerie Dress

This is my most recent make- a Waikerie Dress (in chartreuse linen from The Fabric Store) from the Waikerie Dress expansion pack which gives you the pieces to turn the Muna and Broad Waikerie Shirt into a shirt dress!

Often it’s pretty easy to see the ‘hacking possibilities’ of a pattern, but I often get stuck actually going through with the hack because I’m worried about getting the pattern hack right, I’m not sure how much fabric I’ll need, and I’m just generally worried about making a mess of the whole thing- I hate wasting fabric.

The Waikerie Dress Expansion was the perfect way to solve those issues and give folks the instructions and pattern pieces they need to be able to make the Waikerie Shirt in to the Waikerie Dress. What I’ve made here is a modified View C, with long-sleeves and a collar. The hem has a modern-twist on the classic shirt hem and is higher at the front than at the back- I love the way it flows down.

Size Details: Since the pattern is an expansion, it does require some of the Waikerie Shirt pieces to complete it. The Muna and Broad sizing has recently increased (additional smaller sizes were added) and a new lettering system for the sizes. Where I was previously a Size 1, I now cut out a Size F. Right now I have a 48″ full bust and between a 52-56″ hip, depending on bloating.

Fabric Details: I pride myself on being able to jigsaw my pattern pieces pretty tight, so I managed to get this dress out of less than 3 metres of fabric (which is 148cm wide). This includes two decent size pocket pieces (could have been cut from a lining fabric), and the facing, which wraps around the neckline and down the front of the dress. I did wish that I’d picked up some of the matching linen bias binding to help with finishing the curved hem, but I didn’t think of it when I was in store.

I had a strangely difficult time finding buttons from my stash, both because I didn’t have enough of most of them, and because the colour was a difficult one to pair. I ended up using these cute wee wooden buttons, but I didn’t have enough for my cuffs (which remain button and buttonhole-free until I can find the right buttons to pair with the dress!

I’ve already cut out and mostly sewn View B with the mitered corners and a knee-high split, and I’m also thinking about a cosy cotton version for winter (or maybe a silk noil) if I can find the perfect fabric.

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!