I rushed to buy the Donny Shirt Pattern when it was first released because I’m a HUGE fan of everything Friday Pattern Company, and I am yet to have a bad experience. I did a fair bit of Instagram stalking of the pattern before choosing my fabric, and I settled on this beautiful, and I mean BEAUTIFUL, Ex Zara Tencel lurex blend. It’s soft and floaty with metallic, lurex spots running throughout it, and features a modern, contemporary print in black and off-white.
As expected, the fabric isn’t the easiest to work with! It has the tendency to shift and slip when cutting like all tencels/viscoses/rayons, but that’s what makes them feel so lovely when worn. I was armed and ready for this with a good sharp blade on my rotary cutter, lots of very fine pins and a large cup of tea! I chose not to cut my pattern pieces on the fold in order to minimise the chances of slipping and instead, I flipped my pattern pieces over after cutting one side to make extra sure the pattern was still in line, before cutting a mirror image. I also cut my interfacing first and fused this to my main fabric and then cut those particular pieces. This seemed to do a good job in preventing the collar and front facing stretching out of shape.
One of the main draws to this fabric is the gorgeous gold flecks spotted throughout it. This pretty detail comes with the added risk of melting though, but who wouldn’t take that risk for a bit of extra bling to their top?! So worth it!
As I mentioned earlier, I love Friday Pattern Company patterns and I’ve made a fair few. I tend to come up between sizes in their patterns, so I spent a good deal of time talking myself in and out of which size to go for. In the end I chose to make a quick toile of the shirt in an old bedsheet. I chose to go with the smaller size, which in this case was a size small. The pattern is described as a ‘boxy pull-on top’ but I have a small frame and these styles can often look a bit too ‘oversized’ on me. I also made a narrow shoulder adjustment to the pattern, which is a st andard adjustment for me. The biggest alteration, and its simple to do but worth noting… I added 2 ½ inches (just over 6 cm) to the length of the top! I am 5’6” in height and I don’t have a particularly long body. Obviously, I had sized down and have a larger chest measurement than a size small, which may account for some of the length lost. This adjustment allows me to comfortably tuck the front of the Donny shirt into some high- or mid-rise jeans (the back of the shirt is designed to be longer so not a problem). I understand the shirt is designed to be shorter in length but this might be something to check depending on how you like to wear your shirts.
The pattern is finished beautifully with an enclosed yoke, and the front facing is secured with topstitching. There is a fair amount of topstitching front and centre, which is a little intimidating (or maybe that’s just me?!) so I probably wouldn’t recommend this as a beginner pattern. I think its another big thumbs up from me for Friday Pattern Company though, and there are lots of hacks popping up demonstrating different ways in which to use the pattern.
I really love the combo of the Donny pattern and the Tencel fabric. The shirt has quite a simple cut, so the extra sparkle of gold lurex threads really adds to the finish and isn’t just lost in the pattern’s design. The finished top is exactly what I’d hoped for, in that it can be worn on my holidays at night but will work equally as well teamed up with a pair of jeans in the day.
Inspired to make your own version? Here's what you'll need:
Fabric : Ex Zara Tencel Lurex Blend (out of stock at the time of writing, new stock expected w/c 21st August, sign up to be notified by email when new stock arrives).
Pattern : Friday Pattern Company Donny Shirt, available in PDF format direct from the designer here - paper patterns expected in stock by the end of August.
[Disclosure: Maz was provided with the materials for her project free of charge and received a gift voucher in recognition of the time spent on her project.]