Oversized shirt with interesting design details

A review of Paper Theory Patterns Olya Shirt and Dress

Reviewed by Kaysews on 9th October, 2021

This is an oversized shirt with some classic shirt features, such as  a stand collar and front plackets, but with a sleeve design making it out of the ordinary. The front sleeve is cut horizontally in one piece joining to the centre front. There is a back yoke and box pleat at the centre back. Optional pockets (which I included) are sewn on the inside below the front yoke. It’s an ideal pattern for striped fabric, as you can have fun mixing horizontal and vertical stripes.
Overall, I’m pleased with my make as it’s eye-catching and a change from a standard shirt.
I did have some issues with the make though, meaning that I was somewhat dissatisfied with the finish I was able to achieve compared with usual. The seam allowance is 1 cm rather than the usual 1.5 cm. I was using slippery, drapey fabric that frayed quickly and, at certain points where you need to clip into corners to construct the square back yoke, was almost disintegrating. No instructions are given to staystitch, although I did so. I struggled to overlock the narrow seam allowance to fix the problem afterwards. Further, although I followed the instructions on finishing the pockets, I ended up with an unfinished edge on the underside. These issues made me concerned for the longevity of my make. Next time I would overlock all the edges before seaming them. Nevertheless, no-one notices the innards of course when I’m wearing it and I’ve had lots of  compliments on the unusual design.