I’ve now made both the StyleArc Blaire Shirt and the Closet Case Patterns Kalle Shirt, and I have some pros and cons for each. I wish I’d seen a post like this when I was deciding which one to make, so I hope it’s helpful to someone out there.

The Blaire shirt from StyleArc


Pros:

  • Really stylish details (tiny collar and button bands, well shaped cuffs)
  • Well drafted (easiset collar stand I’ve ever set)
  • Good sleeve length
  • Fashionable square shape
  • I feel cool wearing it

Cons:

  • No back yoke
  • Hard [impossible] to hem as drafted
  • Had to re-draft the front pieces to eliminate the bottom panel/underlay action for a classic shirt look
  • “Instructions” are not for the inexperienced

Fit notes:

  • I made a straight size 10 (compared the finished garment measurements to a Madewell square shirt I have instead of really going by body measurements) and it may be a hair too big
  • Forgot to make a sway back adjustment

 

The Kalle shirt/tunic/dress from Closet Case Patterns

Pros:

  • Lots of variations and good instructions
  • Sewalong on the blog for extra hand-holding
  • Good suggestion to use bias tape on the roller coaster hem to make it easier to hem
  • Has a back yoke

Cons:

  • Collar stand is giant (a good half inch bigger than the Blaire shirt) and extremely high-set on the neck
  • Bias tape hem adds a weird weight/movement, which also makes it look a little “Becky Home Ec-y” (to be fair, I used purchased bias tape vs cutting my own–might have made a difference)
  • Sleeves are too short for my taste; sleeve bands were more of a struggle to attach than they needed to be
  • More of an oversized, shaped shirt instead of a true “square” shirt, so less of the modern Madewell vibe I was going for
  • Because of that giant high Dickensian collar, I feel less cool wearing it than one should in a shirt made of UNICORNS

Fit notes:

  • It ended up a size too small in the shoulders (I cut the 6, which was a size above my bust measurement because I wanted boxy, but I guess I have Hulk shoulders? then graded to an 8 in the waist and a 10 at the hips so I maintained the recommended ease above my body measurements)
  • Cut somewhere between view A and view B; tried to even out the side curves of the hem a little
  • Remembered to make a sway back adjustment

 

So who’s the winner? The Blaire shirt. I really wanted to love the Kalle, since I find the Closet Case blog and tutorials so useful, but something about that collar is so off. It could be that’s because the pattern uses the same piece for a band collar as it does for the collar stand, or it very well may be that I need to make a square or sloping or forward shoulder adjustment. But that’s beyond my skill set (and desire), so I’ll stick with the Blaire.