The Bonn Shirt by Itch to Stitch

It has been several years since I first tested the Bonn Shirt by Itch to Stitch. While testing, I made this flannel shirt, later on I made a dress version you all loved! So when the ladies from Hello Heidi Fabrics asked me to sew a sample using one of their pretty cotton lawn fabrics, I decided quickly that it was time for another Bonn Shirt.

The Bonn shirt has a v neck with a mandarin collar, is slightly shaped through the waist and has a curved hem. It comes with long cuffed sleeves, short banded sleeves and flared sleeves. I decided to go for the flared sleeves this time, since I felt that the floral fabric went together well with the fun sleeves. As most fitted Itch to Stitch patterns the Bonn comes with different cup sizes, and as always, I chose the smallest.

I already had the pattern printed and ready to go, with all necessary changes – widened shoulders and a lengthened bodice, both above and below the waist. Such a time saver! The cotton lawn I used is a pretty tightly woven, screen printed lawn. That made cutting very easy. I tried to match the button placket in the front perfectly, but I seem to have miscalculated, as you can see! But still – the front still looks like it belongs together, the big flowers don’t look “cut off”, so I’m fine with how it turned out!

Since it is screen printed, the back of the fabric is white. While cutting the fabric I realized that the white wrong side of the fabric would be pretty visible on the inside of the flared part of the sleeves. So I decided to cut the lower part of the sleeves twice and to sew them wrong sides together, before attaching them to the rest of the sleeves. I realized afterwards that two layers of this rather stable lawn were a little too thick for the flared sleeve – it sticks out a lot! I considered taking the sleeve off and making a regular banded sleeve instead, but in the end I left the double layered flared sleeves. Are they sticking out a little too dramatically? Maybe. Is it alright having a blouse with dramatically big flared sleeves? Yes!

Sewing the blouse didn’t take too long, and Barbara from Hello Heidi Fabrics was nice enough to include five of their perfectly fitting buttons when sending the fabric. The buttons are made of wood and covered with a ceramic layer.

I am really happy with how the blouse turned out! It is slightly tight below the arms, but not enough so to really bother me. But it made me realize once more how differently different fabrics can behave and feel. The fabric I used for my dress is thinner and more loosely woven than this cotton lawn, and even though I made the exact same size as now, it doesn’t feel tight.

I finished the blouse a week ago and have worn it several times already, which gives me the chance to tell you a little more about the fabric. In my experience, some cotton lawns tend to wrinkle quite a bit and you need to be prepared to do some ironing before wearing garments made of those lawns. But to my surprise, this lawn hardly wrinkled at all! I wore the blouse to work twice this week, and only the part I tucked into my pants was wrinkled, the front and back kept totally smooth. This, combined with the professional yet fun look of the blouse made me realize that this is probably one of the garments I am going to wear most in the future.