It’s hard to believe, but summer has officially started… and what a better way to end the school year than by wearing a new, handmade shirt!

I put the finishing touches on the Perfect Polo just in time for Easton’s last day of school and have to admit, it may be one of my favorite pieces that I’ve made for him this year (or at least it’s tied with the Bookworm Button Up that I made at the beginning of the school year – which is also another Blank Slate pattern).

For this project, I used a Vintage Bomber Print for the main body of the shirt (and pocket) and a black cotton knit for the contrasting areas (collar, placket, sleeves, and saddle shoulders). The end result turned out to be a fun, novelty print shirt, but not too juvenile for a future 2nd grader.

As for sewing, this shirt went together incredibly well. In fact, the placket on this version may be one of the nicest that I’ve ever made (and the pocket isn’t too shabby either, just check out those crisp points). The collar, which is noted as being one of the more difficult parts to put together, was even sewn perfectly the first time! I should probably add that I did use a bit of interfacing here so that the collar had some shape and that I skipped hand stitching the collar to the inside of the shirt (because I really, really dislike hand sewing and try to avoid it as much as possible). Instead, I pinned the underside of the collar in place and stitched in the ditch on the outside of the shirt. And the fit? I think it’s spot on! But the most important thing is that Easton loved it. I have a feeling that I’m going to be making more of these before the start of the next school year. Hmmmm, I did just get that Minecraft fabric…..

Final Thoughts: I normally don’t sew a lot of soft-collared shirts because I always think it will take a longer time that what I have to sew, but this one was a breeze! From start to finish, I was able to stitch my shirt in a day and the end results look better than what I’ve been buying in the store. The Perfect Polo is great ‘wardrobe builder’ for any little boy (or girl), but is definitely geared toward for at least intermediate sewers.

And if you’ve made it this far… a bit of a fun meme for all my fellow Sewcialists. We took so many photos of Easton in his new shirt and this one seemed fitting:

I received the Perfect Polo pattern for free in exchange for this blog post. The above entry is an honest review of the pattern, but keep in mind it is my opinion. Just with any pattern, your results, fit, and experience may vary from mine.