Friday Pattern Company Donny Shirt

I love this shirt pattern. It's so useful and a very stylish shape. I've made three and have one under construction. I lengthened the body by 8cm and the sleeves by 2cm as I prefer a slightly longer shirt. The on-line sew-along video from Friday Pattern Company was very useful to confirm I was doing the right thing. There are only a couple of tricky moments during the sew. I have found it difficult to ensure the very end of the collar is sewn in properly. It is also difficult to ensure the stitching on the interfacing is symmetric when you are sewing from the wrong side. This may not be a problem if you are precise and the facing is lined up nicely, but on the solid colour Donny I made, I was way off. I finally decide to unpick it and, rather than sew down the facing, I just tacked it to the front seam on the inside. It works extremely well and the shirt looks more formal without the stitching. I'll use that technique for the next solid Donny! Slight asymmetry is not really noticeable on the prints.

At first, I didn't get the hype around this pattern- it's just a simple camp shirt, right? What I didn't realize was that this shirt is probably the easiest collared shirt you'll ever sew. Everything lines up so nicely that it's a really enjoyable make. It is a bit short but adding length is an easy fix. For me, it's the best basic you can have in your wardrobe.  I am wearing it here with my pomona shorts

I’ve seen so many of these on IG, I knew I would have to jump on the band wagon eventually!
For my first Donny Shirt I wanted to use a fabric that highlighted all the details that make it ‘The Donny Shirt’. I chose a white midweight structured cotton linen blend.
It was such an enjoyable sew. Yes, the ‘V’ was a little tricky on this first occasion. You have to be so accurate in marking the ‘dot’ and precisely sewing up to the ‘dot’ from all directions. My second one will certainly be less head scratchy!
I just love that placket. And the fact there are no buttons, no collar stand and no cuffs!!
I sewed up a size small in accordance with my bust measurement and no modifications.
It is a perfect fit across my bust and back, and the sleeve head fits perfectly on the top of my shoulders.
There’s more details and images over on my blog. https://lovelucie.org/2023/07/18/the-donny-shirt/

This is the first time I’ve reviewed a sewing pattern but I felt I had to review this one. It was an enjoyable sew from beginning to end. I used a very lightweight cotton seersucker, perfect for hot summer days. The Friday Pattern Co sew along video was super useful to help with a few of the construction requirements, none of which turned out to be difficult. I particularly like the fit around the shoulders, with a proper set in sleeve. The collar is very nice too.

The only difficulty I experienced was at the point of the V on the neckline, where I couldn’t make the two seams join closely and there was a gap. I put this right quite easily though, by using the “sewing a button on” stitch on my sewing machine to make a bar tack across that point to reinforce it. And it looks as if it was part of the design, I’m glad to say.

All in all, fabulous! And I can see several versions coming up in the future.