Merchant & Mills Ellsworth Shirt

I have now made three of these shirts. First out of a double muslin. I made a size 10 body and 12 sleeve, I'm normally a 14. The sleeve is way too small for my big swimmers arms. For my next two made a size 10 body, size 16 neckline and collar and a size 16 sleeve and cuff. I also resized the collar to make it a little larger. Voila, perfert for my size and shape. It's a very easy wear with trousers and skirts. Fitted and flared. Im about to make a very light summer version with short sleeves. Because you can never have too many of these shirts.

I absolutely love sewing shirts and this pattern drew me in with the cute half-placket, split hem and boxy shape. I get on quite well with the Merchant and Mills instructions, but parts of the pattern were quite tricky (particularly the French seam into the faced hem) so I would only recommend this pattern for more intermediate and advanced sewists. I made my usual size 8 (even though the designer's body measurement chart puts me in a size 10) and I love the fit - just the right amount of oversized. I used a really beautiful lightweight linen for my shirt which works perfectly for this type of garment and has been particularly lovely to wear during the warm weather.! You can see more photos of my shirt in my latest blog post here.

As always the M&M pattern comes together without fault. I agree with another reviewer some of the instructions are a little sparse and hence some sewing knowledge is required.

the Ellsworth shirt is huge! I would consider down sizing. The sleeves are not as generous!

I made this from a woven cotton with some structure and it worked well, I have seen it suggested that a lawn could be used, I don’t think this would allow this patterns silhouette to shine through.

Right..first thing first! That infamous placket!  I’m a bit of a Merchant and Mills fan, I love their patterns for their simple, timeless aesthetic and I find their style fits with mine. I’ve made pretty much all of their patterns so I’m quite familiar with their minimalist instructions and basics visual diagrams!
The instructions to make the placket are not clear and it took me a while to work out - fear not though as @susanyoungsewing wrote clear steps by steps instructions in her blog - unfortunately for me it was after I finally made the bloody thing.

I’m still rating the pattern 5 as it’s a great, classic shirt pattern, a staple in anyones wardrobe and you can make it in a range of fabric, don’t go for anything too heavy as the back is longer and will pull down, also it’s finished using french seams so if the fabric it’s too heavy the seams would bulk up; of course you can overlock them if you predare.

I made a size 8, no modifications and for my version I used some beautiful linen I bought in Paris during a sewing meet up and it works perfectly!

Do give this pattern a chance!

The Ellsworth shirt from Merchant and Mills has the familiar classic shirt elements of cuffed sleeves and a two part collar with a button placket but from there goes off into more typical M&M territory by being very wide and boxy with grown-on cropped sleeves and a stepped, faced hem.

The design credentials of M&M patterns is not in doubt but I have sometimes found that their instructions rely on you having a reasonable amount of sewing experience and knowledge, and the ability to interpret the sometimes slightly hazy instructions. It’s the placket instructions in this particular case which I know a few people have had trouble with and ended up with it back to front. As a result I have written a comprehensive blog post where I go through it step by step which you can read at https://susanyoungsewing.wordpress.com/2022/01/28/sewing-the-mm-ellsworth-shirt-for-backstitch/

I’m 5’5” tall and I cut a UK 12 with no mods but if you’re taller you may feel you want to lengthen the shirt. Also, as I’ve found with a few M&M patterns I’ve made, they seem to be very generous in their fabric quantities and I was left with nearly 50cms over even after I matched the checks. Overall though, another classic Merchant and Mills pattern which, depending on your fabric choices, could have lots of variety. Linen, Tana lawn, double gauze, chambray or lighter-weight denim, even soft woollen challis and medium-weight jersey are all possibilities.