You Should Be Dancing

My husband saw this shirt and told my son that he should be at the disco. So true! I don’t think he even knows what disco is, but Kid No 2 definitely looks like he has some dance moves in this shirt.

This is the Charlie shirt, a 1970s-inspired knit shirt with lapel collar with short or long sleeves. The pattern is by Zonen 09, an independent Belgian pattern company that specializes in patterns for boys, with a retro feel. The patterns are available in Dutch, English and French, though not all patterns are available in all languages.

I made this in the same super-stretchy stretch velvet that I used to make dresses for my daughters. It’s perfect for this retro shirt, and super soft and cozy. I had nothing to coordinate with this fabric, so for the lining and collar I up-cycled a t-shirt that my husband had from a conference.  The velvet was leftover from a costume and the jersey was up cycled, which means that this stash-busting project was (almost) free.

I did have to buy the pattern (of course!). The instructions are good. Unfortunately, I did have a couple of minor complaints though. First, the pattern is made to be printed on A4 paper, the standard in Europe, but it was really difficult to print this on 8.5″ x 11″ paper here in North America. Also, there are no grid lines on the printed pattern, only marks on the edges of the sheets, which means that it is hard to match up the pages when the edges were cut off by my printer. The pattern does come with one of those big, print-at-the printer versions though, so I might try that next time. But I was in a bit of a time crunch this time around. Maybe I’ll just buy some A4 paper…

Second, you don’t get the fabric requirements until you buy the pattern. Lots of smaller indie patterns do this, but, uggg, it’s so annoying. I needed a pattern that would work with this piece of fabric, so I had to take my chances. Luckily it worked out. Yay!

I wasn’t sure which size to make, so I went up one size. I’m really glad I did. The shirt fits quite narrow, even on my son who is a bit tall and lanky for his age. This was especially true of the waistband. If you sew this up, depending on the stretchiness of your fabric, and the size of the belly it goes around, you might want to test the waistband before attaching it.

In case you are curious, the shirt is lined in the bodice, both front and back, but not the sleeves.

My son loves the shirt and wore it the first chance he got. I like a collared shirt, and my son hates buttons, so this was a huge hit. It’s always nice to have something that looks a bit dressy, but feels super comfy.

So overall, a nice cute pattern, that has my son dancing like it’s 1976, or thereabouts. (And yes, that’s the year You Should be Dancing by the Bee Gees was released.)

This shirt is part of the Kids Clothes Week  Winter Challenge (a little late),  and the Stashbusting Sew-Along (The Love Challenge), and the Sewcialists’ Blue February Sew-Along.

Summary

Pattern Review: Charlie shirt by Zonen 09.

Fabric: Deep blue stretch velvet, and grey jersey.

Cost: €7.50 (about 11$ CDN).

Size: 122 (which is close to size 7).

Sewing Level: Average.

Modifications: None.

Results: Great. The shirt is quite narrow, so I’m glad I went up a size. I hope to make this again.

Author: Shannon Smith

Data scientist, journalist, sewist, hiker, modern quilter, slam poet, and mum of four. My best friends are trees and my favourite food is granola. View all posts by Shannon Smith