The Jodie pattern by Sew Over It appealed to me because of its relaxed fit and structured collar which creates a lovely ‘V’ neck shape at the neckline. It features a revere collar with a partial collar stand, elbow-length cuffed sleeves and a split hem, as well as a back yoke and chest patch pockets with flaps. It’s a really useful shirt to have in your wardrobe with a ‘new to me’ method of constructing the collar so I knew I had to give it a try.
Fabric
The pattern was drafted with linen in mind but can also be made from cotton. I made my toile in a mint-coloured cotton sateen type fabric and my main fabric was an absolutely gorgeous blue floral Ralph Lauren cotton linen from Sew Over It again. Sadly, I don’t think they have any more of it at the time of writing. I would say that linen is perfect for the shirt, as it hangs nicely and is lovely and cool to wear in the summer. This particular fabric is fairly thin so I have worn it with a slip underneath but it doesn’t seem to crease as badly as pure linen which is a bonus! It doesn’t fray too badly and was easy to work with. I would definitely use it again.
Fitting
The Jodie shirt has quite a bit of ease making it a relaxed fit. Specifically, 3.25 inches at the bust and 9.75 inches at the waist. My toile showed that a size 10 fit me perfectly with no adjustments which I was very pleased about! For my actual garment I wanted to make a shirt dress rather than a shirt, so once I knew the pattern fit me, I compared it to an existing dress that I like the length of and measured how much length I needed to add which from memory was about 18 inches. I then cut along the lengthen shorten line on the pattern and added in that amount and smoothed out the side seams. Rather than have a completely straight skirt, I decided to ‘pencil’ the bottom by about one inch and a half on each side to have a slightly more fitted look. I did this by measuring in on the hemline from the side seam by that amount and then curving the side seam back up from that point to meet with the existing seamline about 15 inches up.
Sewing
Sewing wise most of the steps are straight forward and easy to follow. You need to make sure you are really accurate with your pressing and stitching on the pockets and also don’t be tempted to skip the step which tells you to mark the pocket and pocket flap positioning on your bodice pieces because this is essential to make sure your pockets are placed in the right place. The yoke is sewn on using the burrito method which is a good skill to practice. The one section that I did struggle with both on my toile and on my actual garment was the collar. I have sewn flat collars before and collars with a stand but the Jodie shirt features a revere collar which produces the attractive flat, ‘v’ shape. The construction of the actual collar piece was easier the second time but then attaching it to the bodice neckline wasn’t easy. There is a two-part Jodie Shirt sew-along on Sew Over It’s YouTube channel but it doesn’t go as far as the collar unfortunately. However, there is a tutorial on Sew Over It's Stitch School on revere collars for £5. I managed it in the end and to look at it, you wouldn’t really know I had struggled but when I make another one, I may pay for the tutorial to get some extra guidance on it and perfect the technique.
Style
In terms of style, I have worn my Jodie dress with trainers for a casual look but I can also see myself wearing it with tights and boots as the weather gets cooler. The shirt version would look good worn tucked into trousers or loose or alternatively it could be worn open over a T-shirt or vest. I think it’s a useful piece to have in your wardrobe and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for some nice linen fabrics to make more versions!
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