Merchant & Mills Ellsworth Shirt

I really wish I read these reviews before choosing the Ellsworth as my very first (!) shirt pattern.... Similarly to the other reviewers, I have made quite a few M&M patterns and I am generally a big fan however I did find the instructions for this one a bit tricky. All hail Susan Young Sewing though as her wonderful blog gave me the extra information I needed to complete the button placket. It would be great if M&M could create a video turorial or blog post of extra resources for the trickier parts of the Ellsworth. It is well worth the effort however, it is a great pattern. I sized down from a 10 to an 8 and shorted the front and back bodice by 1 inch (I'm 5,2). I would like to make this shirt again and would perhaps shorted the back by a further half an inch as it sits quite long on me still.

Great pattern, hope to sew my Ellsworth shirt this weekend

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.