I must admit, I am not usually one for ‘wearable toiles’; I tend to make my toiles up in plain, cheapass polycotton or viscose or heavy twill, based on the corresponding weight and drape of the actual fabric I am planning on using. I will tissue-fit initially and adjust the pattern, then I will make a muslin out of the aforementioned cheapass fabric to work out any further adjustments before finally getting started on my actual fabric. When I am feeling impatient and in the mood to start sewing, this process can feel a bit arduous — sometimes I just want to get to the actual sewing! Happily, this toile of the Friday Pattern Co Donny Shirt certainly falls into the ‘wearable toile’ category and while I won’t say that I will change my toile-ing ways for good, this shirt worked as a pretty nice palate cleanser and a sewjo reset.
The reason for using nicer-than-usual fabric for this toile was that I won this fabric as part of a goody bag at the Bay Area frocktails party at the end of July last year. My goody bag also had a length of ditsy floral viscose in addition to this cotton/linen blend, as well as a $100 gift card for LA Finch Fabrics. The ditsy floral viscose was immediately relegated to my stash of lining fabrics, but I was interested in attempting a wearable toile out of this lightweight cotton/linen blend; after all, it was a freebie and nothing ventured is nothing gained. If it didn’t work out, it wouldn’t feel like a particular loss. However, the fabric was only 130cm wide and I had about 1.2m, so I knew I would have to find a pattern that wasn’t too fabric-hungry.
The pattern I used was the Friday Pattern Co Donny Shirt, which I feel a bit behind the trend on — it seems everybody was making this shirt back when it was released in 2023, so I was influenced to buy this pattern due to the many gorgeous versions cropping up on Instagram! Designed for light- to mid-weight wovens, it is a fun take on the classic camp shirt — there’s a notched lapel collar, a relaxed fit, a patch pocket, and a slightly dropped shoulder, but with a pull-on design, cropped length and no buttonholes to contend with. I opted to make a Medium and knew that the fit wouldn’t be perfect straight out of the packet, but I crossed my fingers and hoped the boxy fit would be fairly forgiving. I used up pretty much my entire yardage and had a handful of scraps left, so this pattern is super economical.
When I made this in October, my shipping container with all my belongings still hadn’t arrived in San Francisco, so I was without my overlocker. As a result, this wasn’t quite the speedy sew I thought it would be because I decided to use French seams on what was supposed to be toile Rose, dammit! This decision also bit me further, as I totally forgot the standard seam allowance for Friday Pattern Co is ⅜”; I am so used to ⅝” as standard that it was too late to add additional seam allowance to my pattern pieces, as I had already cut the fabric out. Dammit, Rose. This meant I had to make some seriously micro French seams, but this shirt looks so clean on the inside. The yoke back is finished using the burrito method and I used my usual facing trick to also keep the front placket looking neat.
Despite the fiddliness of my micro French seams, the Donny Shirt was a pleasure to sew. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and helped me make my best notch collar to date. This pattern would be perfect for a beginner looking to make their first shirt, especially as the only tricky element is ensuring you accurately mark the dot where the shirt pieces and collar pieces intersect — this is crucial for getting a sharp v-neck point. I really love the easy-to-wear breeziness of this linen shirt and have some tencel twill in my stash earmarked to make a blousier, swishier Donny.
Final verdict? Pretty good! Not a resounding success, but something I have been wearing out and about quite happily (it was sunny and got up to 21°c here at the end of February, which was truly a novelty to someone who spent most of her winters in England buried under several layers). The boxy, relaxed fit is fairly forgiving, but I think next time I will do an FBA to add a bust dart and lengthen the bodice by another inch or so — I can only just about tuck this version into my very high-waisted jeans! I would also add an additional ¼” seam allowance to the pattern pieces, which would make French seams or flat-felled seams a bit easier.
Friday Pattern Co Donny Shirt
Size XS – 7X
Full Bust: 32″- 60″
Waist: 24″- 53″
Hips: 34″- 63″
