a modern take on a classic shirt

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.