Mandala Genra Shirt

Alright! Back to [semi]regularly scheduled sewing for myself (no more Lego playmats)! Thanks for sticking around though that.

I have so many colorful button-up shirts and blouses pinned on my Pinterest, and I knew I needed to make one. I was a little bit on the fence about using the Roscoe pattern to make it look more like the top middle photo (below) or the Genra. But I’ve made a lot of Roscoe Blouses over the years, and I really wanted the design to be more like the Genra because I thought it would show off the print, and I didn’t want the print to get lost in the gathers of the Roscoe.

My Genra Shirt from last year was one of my favorite makes, and I wore it so much all summer long. I bought this beautiful cotton voile fabric in November 2023 as my birthday present to myself and had my heart set on making a long sleeve Genra. Just over a year later, and I’ve finally made it!

I used the same pattern pieces from when I made my first Genra, so the bodice and front faces were already lengthened by 2″. I used the same size (large) that is the closest to my body measurements.

I was really nervous to lengthen the sleeves on this pattern, since I’ve had bad experiences with lengthening shirt sleeves too much before. But luckily, I had my short sleeved Genra, and I was able to figure out the right amount. I lengthened the sleeves by 2″ and I really can say that it was the perfect amount for me. I was so happy when I put the shirt on and realized that I didn’t have any pulling from the sleeves being too short, and I didn’t make them too long either! That was a huge relief!

I was so exhausted from cutting all of this fabric out. I was trying so hard to get the fabric print just right on all of the pieces, and it took forever. I thought I had cut the front pieces correctly so that the front lined up correctly, but I didn’t, and it was going to look SO. BAD. So, I panicked, obviously, and then found the one large piece of fabric that I had left over. By some serious miracle, the piece fit almost perfectly in the front pattern piece that I needed to recut.

I cut a new front piece and had to use two scrap pieces to cover a small area at the top side seam in the area that gets folded over from the collar. I was so meticulous about matching the two areas, but you can’t even see either of them when I’m wearing the shirt. Haha. I’m still just so amazed that I was able to get it to work, otherwise I was going to be majorly disappointed.

I share more about pattern matching the front and more details about this pattern in my first Genra blog post — So if you’re interested in reading more about that, check out that blog post. To finish it off, I chose some matte black buttons that wouldn’t stand out too much and distract from the mandala pattern. I’m really happy with that decision.

Unfortunately, this fabric is sold out and I was very unimpressed with the fabric store that I bought it from. After waiting weeks for it to be delivered (I thought it was coming from inside of Portugal, apparently it was coming from the UK??), I received the wrong fabric. Plus, I was never sent any tracking or updates about either of the deliveries. I’m glad that I finally got this fabric, but I won’t be ordering from there again.

I’m very happy with how this beautiful shirt came out, and I’m so relieved that I was able to fix my cutting mistake. With my wide legged jeans, Dallas said that the look was giving some 70’s flower child vibes. I’m just missing a headband and some good sunglasses!

Thank you for reading my blog today and happy Genra sewing.

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