True life: I'm addicted to flannel Archers

Hello hello hello! 

Today I'm going to write about my favorite pattern of all time. Seriously this guy is the cheese to my macaroni. I'm obsessed. Almost 100% of the time when I fabric shop I start out thinking of other projects and then go into a fugue state or something and when I come out all I have is like 3 different flannels and nothing else. I had to put a moratorium on making more because there is a limit to how many flannels one girl in a small apartment needs, but I have like 5 different super cozy flannels in my stash that I was intending to archerize. SEND HELP. I would make one for someone else but no one I know seems to share my love of flannel. 

Pattern: Archer: Grainline

Fabric: I THINK it's this mammoth check flannel from fabric.com. Buttons are grey 7/16 shirt buttons from amazon

Listening to: Reply All

In the winter time, I wear flannels probably at least 5 days a week. Sometimes I sleep in them. I love them with all my heart and used to wear men's flannels because I like them oversized, but then they would always be like WAY too wide and sometimes still not even long enough. I like the sleeves extra long so I can pull them over my hands (I ALWAYS roll sleeves up when I'm working so regular length vs extra long is all the same), and I like the back to be long enough to at least mostly cover my butt in case I am going full PJs in public and wearing leggings. The dream of the 90s is alive in my life for sure. 

I usually cut the back yoke and cuffs on the bias, as well as the front button band. I'm lazy and those pieces are way harder to plaid match than the sleeves and front/back pieces, also I just like the way it looks, especially the back yoke. I also like the way the box pleat looks "backwards" so that the fabric meets on the right side instead of the wrong side. Actually on this flannel I 100% intended to make the box pleat the right way around and didn't even realize that I messed that up until I was looking at the pictures just now. Oh well, that's what happens when I drink wine and flannel 😆. I used the burrito method for the first time a while ago and I have NO idea what took me so long with that one, it is clearly the superior method of attaching the yoke! I also finished the whole thing with like... faux flat felled seams I guess. They are french seams with topstitching on them. I don't have that many comments on construction that haven't been made by Jen already and like 1000x better than I could, the sew along is ridiculously amazing if you need extra help with steps in the pattern. 

I usually sew up the size 6 for flannels because I like them a bit oversized. I also add 2.5 inches of length to the sleeves and body. Honestly looking at this now my next one (who am I kidding, there will for sure be like.. many more) I might add another inch to the body length. I like them loooong!

I cut the pockets to be identical, but looking at it now I think it would look a little bit better if they were mirrored. Maybe I will change that at some point, the brushed flannel is the same texture on both sides so I don't think it would be a problem. I also often make flannels with just one pocket so maybe I will just remove one permanently, I haven't decided. I strongly prefer 1/2 inch buttons over 5/8 so I always err on the side of smaller buttons than larger. Not sure why that is but it's what I do!

I ended up getting this really pretty blue linen a while ago and I intended to make a dress out of it, but I was worried it would be a bit sheer in sunlight and also I wasn't sure how I would feel about the wrinkly linen look on my entire body. I think for just a shirt it makes sense but I thought I might feel rumpled if it were my entire look for the day. After I decided against a dress I couldn't resist making it into an archer! 

Fabric: Indigo linen from Mood, Buttons are matte black glass buttons also from mood

Listening to: Still Reply all :D (LOVE when I find a podcast with a lot of episodes)

I prewashed the linen and dried it on medium, which I think helped a bit but I am really surprised at how opaque this is in these pictures, even with the flash. I swear when I hold it up it is a bit sheer, but while I am wearing a cami in these pictures, I really don't think you would be able to tell if I weren't. Definitely a bonus with a summer shirt!

Since this would be more of a warm weather shirt, I decided to add some tabs so I could roll up the sleeves and keep them that way. This is a design element that I like in a lot of RTW button ups so I wanted to give it a go! I just sewed a long tube (originally about 2.5 inches wide) so the final tab would be about an inch after pressing. Then I cut it in half and guessed how long it should be, finished the edges, and guessed again where I should attach it. I sewed a square with an x through it to attach at the top of the tab, and then put a button in the middle of the x (x marks the spot har har) so I could button them. I really like how it came out! The tabs are a bit too long, they hang pretty far down my arm when they are unbuttoned but they don't bother me so I'll count that as a success!

Again you can see that I did a backwards box pleat (this time was intentional). I cut this in a size 4 because I wanted a bit more of a fitted look, but kept my usual 2.5 inches of length across the shirt. In this case I did not topstitch as much as I usually do- the button band is not top stitched, nor is the back yoke. I thought this might make it look a bit more deconstructed which I thought would look nice with the crumpled linen. The thread blends in so well with the variegated color though that I don't think it would have been noticeable either way.

This fabric was kind of hard to photograph, the color and the texture seemed to combine into something that even in the best natural light I could find made it hard to see details! but here is more closeup of the collar and button tab, as well as the pockets which somehow totally blend into the background in these pictures. They are there! 

AND I wouldn't say I was addicted if these were the only 2 archers I had made.... Here is the rest of my army all stacked up so as not to terribly overwhelm....

From top to bottom: Chambray from Fabric.com (very long time ago), Blue buffalo plaid from Mood (also old), Grey mammoth flannel from Style maker, red mammoth flannel from stylemaker

TADA!!! My archer posse 😍😍😍😍. I love them so much. Seriously in the wintertime this is like my week of clothing, rinse and repeat. FLANNELS FOREVER! The chambray one in the back is sneaking in there, but it can sit with us, I guess, and now the linen shirt exists too. I didn't have enough chambray to make the inside yoke so I used a polka dot fabric I had instead, I actually really like this detail so I will probably do it in the future with plain fabric yoked shirts. The elbows are starting to wear out though!!! Seriously I wear an archer at least once a week. 

That's it! I could probably keep talking about my favorite pattern forever, so I will just leave it here. I am always SO sad about summer ending but my flannel archers help ease the transition a little bit, for sure!