Except that it isn’t a tunic, it’s a shirt! I’m back with Part II (or view A) of what I shared on Tuesday.

After sewing up view B, I knew that I would want to take some design ease out for my view A version. I did this for a couple of reasons; 1) my gingham doesn’t have a lot of drape, 2) I have a very petite ribcage and torso–meaning it is very thin. My underbust measures 27″ and my waist measures 24-3/4″. My hips are 36″ and my shoulders are normal.

^^Oh yah…my undercollar is TOTALLY Rifle Paper Co. Les Fleurs. FTW.

So, I stuck with a size small, knowing it fit me perfectly through the shoulders. I sewed everything up as-is until I reached the side seams/arms. Instead of sewing everything at 3/8″ seam allowance (when you are doing your first pass up the sides for your french seams), I took everything in significantly. I left the wrist at 3/8″ seam allowance so that the cuffs would stay the same (I still want my hands to fit through!), but tapered that out to 5/8″ at the elbow, 1-1/4″ at the armscye, 1-1/2″ at the waist, and 1-1/4″ at the hip.

To summarize that, in the round I took out a total of 1/2″ at the elbow, 4.5″ at the waist, and 3.5″ at the hip.

I am so very happy with the fit! It’s the first time a button-up shirt has fit me so beautifully. I am normally swimming in fabric around the torso and back (I think I have a slight swayback to add to a small chest and petite ribcage).

While the pattern is written with a lot more ease on purpose, I am very happy with this fit in this fabric. (You can see how the pattern fit me 100% as-is in my post about view B! That fabric had a lot of drape and was flowy and perfect for all of that ease. This gingham would have been too much for comfort, for me personally.)

^^Me laughing at the the tiny person about to photobomb. (See the little arm entering camera left?)

So, if you’re looking for a slim-fit button-down, know that you can achieve that with the Cheyenne by simply taking in the side seams. I have seen others add darts, but that was a lot more than I wanted to do. I still wanted an “easy” fit–just “easy” for my body type and petite torso.

I came to my final measurements by taking things in at very small amounts at a time, trying it on, and tweaking from there. I sewed the side seams probably five times, each time taking it in slightly more in different areas. One word of caution if you attempt this: be very careful that you don’t take out too much at the upper arm, armscye, or bust area. A good portion of the ease there (at least 1.5-2.5″ at the bust, for example) is there simply so that you can raise your arms up and move around. This is called wearing ease. You need to err on the side of leaving too much ease there. What I took out would be called design ease–extra “room” written into a pattern. The design ease was PERFECT for my rayon challis tunic, even on my small torso frame. But, I knew it would be too much for my gingham shirting. (And you can see how much extra design ease I still have in the photos above.)

So, while I have my changes recorded, I will still cut out a straight size for each new version, and will tweak them individually to suit both the fabric and my frame.

If you want to read my thoughts about the pattern itself (spoiler alert! I LOVE IT.), you may do so in Tuesday’s post.

Pssssssst—it’s my birthday weekend! Celebrate with me by getting 28% off of the Chi-Town Chinos pattern (that means it’s only $10.80!). Just use the code HBD28. Happy Labor Day weekend, too, fellow Americans!