This is a summer shirt from Butterick 3895. The fabric is 100% cotton, I guess you would call it oxford cloth. It has a tiny blue stripe and the fabric has a slight texture that is very appealing.
The front has four tiny pin-tucks on each side of the button band. They are sewn down to just below bust level and then they end and give added fullness to the shirt without making the bust and shoulders larger. The pattern has a shirt-tail hem with a nice gentle curve at the side seams, so that it is easy to sew a small double hem without fighting it at the top of the curve.
The next is a shirt-dress from Butterick 6099. This is also made in 100% cotton. I started this in early winter and intended to bring it to Texas. But it wasn't finished in time. So it hung until my return in early March. But the Texas weather was never quite warm enough to wear a dress without tights. So it will get its first wearing here in Ontario if our weather ever warms up.
I particularly like the pleat at center front and back. I made the tab in a contrast cotton. At first I made long sleeves with cuffs but didn't like them, so hacked them off to 3/4 sleeves. Inside the sleeve is a tab with a button sewn to the outside of the sleeve to keep the sleeves rolled up. This is my preferred way to wear sleeves, not short sleeves but long ones rolled up to just below the elbow. The tabs are made in the contrast fabric as well. And the buttons are some beautiful ones I bought years ago from Suttle and Seawinds in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. They are almost like mother-of-pearl.
This pattern is a tunic pattern, but given my short height, the tunic length is a knee-length dress for me. Unlike the shirt above, the curved hem is too curved on this pattern to make hemming easy. If I make it again, I would sew the hems on front and back pieces before joining the side seams. Then I could get the curve and the hemline width perfect.
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