Modern Sewing Co. Overshirt

You may have seen back in October, I wrote about the Modern Sewing Co. Overshirt pattern on Instagram. This is my first time sewing a pattern from this company and I very much enjoyed it! So much so, I have 3 more versions planned…

Amy is a small white person, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a navy overshirt, brown cords, leather brown boots and a burgundy cowl. She has a pair of headphones on and 2 dogs are looking at her from the left of the image.

The pattern is described on the website as a “functional and comfortable worker style jacket with classic shirt making construction details”. I love the worker jacket trend, it’s so classic and utilitarian. I’ve been embracing a more androgynous look recently and the chore coat fits nicely into that style niche. This seemed the kind of pattern I could make my own, using different fabrics, colours and design tricks to create a plethora of different versions. This particular piece is made from an old IKEA curtain. The fabric is a heavy weight 100% cotton twill. In their curtain form, they were too short for the window and had the odd sun-fade stripe. These imperfections were easy to cut around and I had enough fabric from one pair of curtains to make this shirt and a pair of Morgan jeans.

I followed the instructions to the letter, having never made an over shirt before. I’ve made a shirt cuff placket once and found it extremely confusing. I find that step really difficult to visualise but followed Hetty’s instructions somewhat blindly and it all came together neatly.

Amy is a small white person, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a navy overshirt and a burgundy cowl. She has a pair of headphones on and is sitting on a wall

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I love the little design details, like the hanging loop and the pencil pocket. There is a decorative loop on the outside inserted into the back yoke, which I made using a scrap of blue leather I rehomed from a sample book. I added an extra loop into the nape of the neck so I could actually hang it up. Plus, my Craft & Thrift logo embossed into leather.

I struggled a bit with the button placket, I always find this step confusing in shirts. It’s hard to know how many times to fold the fabric and in what direction. I’m sure I did something wrong because I ended up with the wrong side of the fabric showing. It’s not particularly noticeable, since the cotton twill is the same colour on both sides, but the texture is slightly different if you look closely.

The buttons are gold coloured metal and feature this amazingly detailed design of crossed arrows and what looks like the Tudor rose. The history nerd in me loves this reference to a fascinating period of history. The gold on navy is quite striking and gives it a faint military vibe, in my opinion.

I love this shirt, it's slotted straight into my wardrobe and feels very 'me'. The sleeves are quite wide, so I may consider slimming them down in my next version. Albeit the width does allow me to fit my Garmin and a chunky sweater underneath, as in the photos here. I would like to make a Monty Don inspired version, using a mustard twill I bought in a destash sale. I also have some deadstock burgundy waxed cotton, thinking a waxed jacket hack might be a plan. For that version I may work out how to line it, I have some designer silk burning a hole in my stash. And finally, I would love a plaid wool version and have the perfect deadstock wool in my collection. You know a pattern is an instant win, when you're planning your next version as you're making the current version!