A review of the Olya shirt sewing pattern by Paper Theory

I must admit that I was a little daunted at the prospect of sewing the Olya shirt pattern by Paper Theory.  It is a very cool advanced level shirt pattern with some really unique – and challenging – construction details. 

I had the perfect fabric in my stash for it though and I really fancied making a statement shirt for summer.  So I thought I would give it a try and see how I got on. 

In this blog post I talk all about how I found the Olya shirt pattern (sizing, adjustments, construction notes, etc) and give you any tips I discovered along the way too!

 The pattern

The Olya shirt pattern is a sewing pattern by Paper Theory.  The pattern has been around for a few years now and is definitely a popular one in the sewing community.  It’s available in pdf format only – I bought my copy from the Foldline.

The Olya shirt is a relaxed, loose-fitting shirt, which also comes with a dress variation.  The shirt features traditional details including two-piece stand and collar, front button placket, back yoke with box pleats and sleeve cuffs with plackets and pleats at the wrist. 

However what makes the Olya shirt stand out from other shirt sewing patterns is its unusual, striking style lines, which are created by the use of a combined front yoke and full sleeve piece. 

The fabric

Paper Theory recommend medium weight fabrics like cotton, linen and flannel or lightweight fabrics like viscose, crepe de chine or georgette.  They add it would also work in some heavier weight fabrics like corduroy, drill or denim.

I really like the look of the Olya shirt in a plain fabric for a very classic, timeless shirt.  But I especially love how the interesting front yoke/sleeve piece detail makes the Olya shirt perfect for playing with stripe direction.

I’d had a blue and white striped lightweight linen fabric in my fabric stash for a quite a while.  I had bought it originally from Ditto Fabrics with no firm plans for it, just the idea of making something summery.  I liked the stripes and I had never sewn with a lightweight linen before, so I thought it would be nice to try.

I like to keep a pretty small stash and I always try to sew with fabrics sooner rather than later.  However, I’d been struggling for inspiration with this particular striped lightweight linen. I’d considered the idea of a summer co-ord set or perhaps a summery dress, but neither seemed quite right.  Then suddenly inspiration struck and I thought it would be perfect for a relaxed summer shirt that I could layer over summer garments for a bit of sun protection.  This would really fill a gap in my wardrobe.  And with the Olya shirt sewing pattern offering great opportunity to play with stripe direction, I thought it would be a lovely pattern-fabric match.

To finish my shirt I used some lovely 13mm recycled plastic buttons by The Mendip Maker, which were kindly gifted to me with no obligation to share. The buttons are white with hints of blue in them, so a great match for the blue and white striped fabric.

Sizing

The Olya shirt is available in a size UK6 to UK28, from bust 31 ½ inches up to bust 56 inches.

My measurements are bust 32 waist 26 hips 36 inches.  Based on the Paper Theory sizing chart this would put me between a UK6-8 for bust and between a UK8-10 for waist and hips.

For my Olya shirt I decided to make a straight size 6.  The pattern does state that the Olya shirt is designed to be oversized and the finished garment measurements show plenty of ease.

I do like the fit of my finished Olya shirt but I think I could go more oversized.  I might try a size 8 if I made it again, so see which sizing I prefer on me.

I did make one sizing adjustment, which is to lengthen the sleeve pattern piece by 1 inch.  I have long arms and this is a fairly standard adjustment for me.  I’m glad I did make this adjustment as I like the final length.  I will probably tend to style this shirt with rolled up sleeves but it is nice to have the option of wearing the sleeves unrolled and not having them slightly too short!

I might lengthen the body slightly next time too, although I am not unhappy with the current length.

Sewing process

Paper Theory rate this pattern as an advanced level sewing pattern.  However, they note that very detailed instructions are given to guide you through the process so it would be the perfect project for an intermediate sewist looking to stretch their ability and learn some more classic sewing skills.

As mentioned above, I was a bit daunted at the prospect of sewing the Olya shirt.  I have sewn shirts before, so a lot of the more technical areas (collar and stand, cuff and plackets…) weren’t completely new to me.  However, I had read a few reviews online from experienced sewists confirming that the pattern was really quite tricky in points!  So I took my time over every step and thankfully I found that it was not as difficult as I had imagined it might be.  There are definitely some fiddly bits (I found attaching the front yoke/sleeve pattern piece to the back yoke particularly painstaking) but by working the fabric through the machine very slowly and carefully then I found it came together ok.

It is worth noting that I chose to omit the pockets from my Olya shirt.  This is because the fabric I used is very lightweight and I thought that the pockets may well end up sagging and would spoil the clean finish of the shirt.  I understand from other reviews that the pockets are one of the tricker points of construction, so I guess I simplified the pattern for myself by choosing not to include them!  (If I make this shirt again in a crisper fabric like a cotton poplin/lawn, I may well give the pockets a try).

One resource I found really helpful in the construction of the Olya shirt is Paper Theory’s YouTube tutorial for the shirt.  I barely referred to the written pattern instructions and instead just followed along with the YouTube tutorial.  It is a super clear tutorial with timestamped chapters for each individual step in the construction process, so it is very easy to rewatch a particular step over again.  There are also lots of tips included along the way.

Below I have included some of my own notes/tips for various parts of the construction process:

Interfacing – As I used a very lightweight linen for my shirt, I didn’t use the full amount of interfacing recommended by the pattern.  I only interfaced the outer collar stand and the outer cuff pieces.  I also used just a strip of interfacing 3cm wide for each button placket (placed 1cm from the edge to account for the seam allowance) rather than interfacing each button placket piece in full, to avoid several layers of extra bulk. 

Topstitching/edge stitching – The pattern suggests optional topstitching/edge stitching at several points, including for the front yoke/sleeve seam, the collar and the cuffs.  I chose not to add this optional topstitching as I wanted to keep my shirt as pared back as possible.  For the cuffs, I stitched in the ditch to secure the inner cuff to the shirt.

Staystitching the neckline – I staystitched around the neckline of the shirt front and back yoke pieces before I started sewing the shirt.  The pattern instructions do mention staystitching as an option later in the construction process. However, I wanted to do it straight away, to avoid my (quite delicate) fabric stretching out through handling.  

Finishing the hem – I used my favourite method for finishing a curved hem with a narrow seam.  I will link to a blog post explaining the method here.  I used ‘method 1 – narrow hem with a serger’.

Summary

The Olya shirt is a really cool shirt pattern with some very interesting construction details.  If you fancy a bit more of an involved sew that is very satisfying then I would really recommend it. 

I love how my striped version has turned out and how the stripes show off the shirt’s style lines.  I hope I’ll get lots of wear out of the shirt when the weather warms up.

I would love to try the pattern again and maybe brave the pockets next time to up the ante!