Gathered Waist Shirt with Pointed Hem
A women's shirt with a pointed collar on a stand, long sleeves with buttoned cuffs and a horizontal seam under the bust. The upper front is gathered into a fitted lower front that ends in points at the hem; buttons are hidden under a concealed placket above the seam and visible below it.
When To Wear
- For the office, worn outside slim trousers or a pencil skirt so the pointed hem shows.
- In spring and autumn with jeans, or under a cardigan.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Gathered fullness above the front seam, fitted lower part.
Length: Hip length at the points.
Collar: Pointed shirt collar set into a separate collar stand.
Sleeves: Long set-in sleeves with a slit bound with a 4 cm bias strip and pleats at the lower edge, set into buttoned cuffs.
Closure: On the upper front, a concealed placket folded from the right front hides the buttonholes; the left upper front has a folded, topstitched button stand. On the lower front the buttons are visible, and the front edges are finished with facings.
Front: Upper front gathered along its lower edge and joined to the lower front.
Back: Upper back with darts and a centre back seam, joined to a two-piece lower back.
Finishing: Pointed hem on the fronts and back; the lower front is finished with its facing, the back hem with an interfaced hem facing, so there is no turned hem. Seams overlocked.
Level Of Difficulty
Advanced. A concealed placket on part of the front only, a gathered seam meeting faced front edges, a collar with stand, bias-bound sleeve slits with cuffs, a faced pointed hem and thirteen buttonholes.
Fabric Recommendations
Blouse fabrics made from natural or blended fibres.
Additional Supplies
- Fusible interfacing (collar, collar stand, cuffs, back hem facing, front facings)
- 13 buttons
Cutter's Must
If the patterns have a double contour, seam allowances are included. If the contour is single, the patterns do not include seam allowances. Seam allowances: all seams – 1 cm. Attention! First, print out the paper patterns and lay them out on the fabric width (fabric width can be from 90 cm to 150 cm) to determine how much material you will need.
- From main fabric:
- Upper Back – 2 pieces
- Lower Back – 2 pieces
- Upper Front – 2 pieces
- Lower Front – 2 pieces
- Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Collar – 2 pieces
- Stand Collar – 2 pieces
- Cuff – 2 pieces
- Back Hem Facing – 1 piece
- Center Front Facing – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing:
- Collar – 1 piece
- Stand Collar – 1 piece
- Cuff – 2 pieces
- Back Hem Facing – 1 piece
- Center Front Facing – 2 pieces
Sewing Instructions
When stitching pieces, pay attention to the notches - they must match!
- Fuse interfacing to the designated pieces.
- Stitch the darts on the Upper Back, press the dart folds towards the center. Stitch the Upper Back to the Lower Back, press seam allowances upwards and overlock. Stitch the center back seam, press seam allowances to the left side and overlock.
- Right Upper Front: press the front to the wrong side along the lines "front edge" and "hidden placket edge". Topstitch along the line "inner edge of placket" to secure. Fold the inner part of the placket towards the front edge, press, and make the buttonholes. Left Upper Front: add a 1 cm seam allowance beyond the line "inner edge of placket" and trim off the rest. Press the placket under by 1 cm, then along the line "front edge", and topstitch along the inner edge of the placket.
- Along the lower edge of the Upper Front, sew a line of stitching with loosened upper thread tension and gather. Stitch the Upper Front to the Lower Front (the edge of the Lower Front is longer by the width of the front edge allowance), press seam allowances upwards and overlock.
- Overlock the outer edge of the Center Front Facing. Place the Lower Front and the Center Front Facing right sides together and stitch the upper edge of the facing, the front edge and the lower edge. Trim seam allowances at corners, turn the front facing to the wrong side, straighten, press.
- Stitch side and shoulder seams (back side seams are longer by the allowance width), press seam allowances towards the back and overlock.
- Place the Collar pieces right sides together, stitch the ends and outer edge. Trim seam allowances at corners. Turn collar right side out, straighten and press. Place the Stand Collar pieces right sides together, insert the finished collar between them and stitch, stitching the ends of the stand at the same time. Start and end the stitch strictly at the marked collar attachment line. Trim seam allowances at curves. Turn the finished collar right side out and press.
- Stitch the outer stand to the neckline, turn under the open edge of the inner stand and topstitch it in the ditch of the stand seam.
- Make a slit on the sleeve along the marked line. Cut a bias strip from the main fabric 4 cm wide and a length equal to double the slit length + 4 cm. Fold the bias strip in half lengthwise and press. Press the raw edges towards the center fold. Bind the sleeve slit with the bias strip. Fold and baste the pleats on the sleeve hem as marked.
- Stitch the sleeve seam, press seam allowances towards the back and overlock. Set sleeves into armholes, press seam allowances and overlock.
- Fold each Cuff in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the short ends. Start and end the stitch precisely at the marked cuff attachment seam line. Turn the piece right side out, press. Attach the outer side of the cuff to the sleeve, fold the seam allowance of the inner side of the cuff inwards and topstitch into the seam of the outer cuff attachment.
- Overlock the outer edge of the Back Hem Facing. Place the facing on the back right sides together and stitch the side and lower edges. Turn the facing to the wrong side, straighten, press.
- Make the buttonholes on the right front and sew the buttons on the left front. Make the buttonholes and sew on the buttons on the cuffs.
