Juneteenth Shirt | Closet Core Patterns Kalle Shirt

Hello, Friends! This post is LONG overdue, but forgive me. I needed time to edit the video I recorded of the whole creative process! But before I get to that, welcome my Juneteenth Shirt!

Juneteenth is a (now) national holiday that commemorates the date, 3 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people there be freed. Long story short, it's a holiday that commemorates ALL of the slaves throughout the US knowing that they were free. Like, an "Independence Day" of sorts.

Knowing what I wanted to do with this fabric, it made this holiday perfect to dedicate it to!

This is the Closet Core Paterrns Kalle Shirt View A in a size 12.

If you want to WATCH this shirt coming together before reading this review, check out the video!

Let's start with the fabric like I normally do. This fabric is called "Crowded Faces" wherever you can find it on the internet. I got this fabric from D&H Fabrics, but it is no longer available there. It comes in white, navy, and a black colorway but it seems to be sold out in most places. I did find a link for the white colorway here. It is a cotton lawn and definitely the perfect fabric for a button-up shirt. It is not too stiff, but is substantial enough for the shirt to keep its structure!

I got the idea to color in the faces of this fabric from Carolyn. I know I'm always shouting her out, but she's honestly so helpful and gives me so many great ideas and support. Her idea was GOLD. I just had to find some reliable markers. Watch the YouTube video to see the saga I had to go through with testing the different markers... it was a doozy and borderline stressful lol

I added a face on the yoke as well which is a nice surprise on the inside.

MAKING the Kalle shirt was the easy part! This is such a great pattern and surprisingly quick. The instructions are written REALLY well and the illustrations are easy to understand. I'm kind of mad at myself for not trying the pattern years ago when it was released. I'm late to the party, but I'm here now lol

I didn't have to make any adjustments. I did, though, do a box-pleat instead of an inverted pleat so you could see the colored face in the center of the back.

The only real issue I had with the pattern was trying to figure out how to make sure I didn't cover the bottom buttonhole on the shirt with the hem band. I am not sure if I missed an instruction about it, but I don't think there's anyway to space the buttonholes evenly without the hem band covering the bottom one.

I figured out a solution that you can SEE here, but I talk more about the specifics in the video above.

The flesh-colored buttons I got from my stash. They are from my notions haul that I got from Panama YEARS ago. I picked them because they were a nude tone and I wanted to keep with the skin theme. I made the button on the collar stand clear because it's the only button that shows when the shirt is closed and I didn't want it to be distracting.

All-in-all, I really love the shirt! It's so unique and LITERALLY one-of-one. I love the diversity of the women I was able to incorporate into it and it's casual enough for me to wear as often as I want to.

Let me know what you think! Have you used this fabric before it disappeared? Which view of the Kalle is your favorite?? Sound off in the comments!

See you next time!

xoxo,

Tasha