White silky shirt with a sleeve surprise

I wanted a white shirt, an item missing from my wardrobe and a basic staple to wear with almost anything. I searched my stash and found a beautiful silky satin-like fabric but would it look too much like wedding dress material? I needed to embellish it a little to take away the look of a bride. I also had a sleeve detail idea in my head and maybe this was the time to employ it.

First I used my Sure-Fit Designs body blueprint from the shirt kit and created the shoulder pleats and hidden button placket that Glenda has in her design options. For my sleeve design idea I added a strip of fabric that I cut 9 cms wide and joined with a 0.5 cm seam allowance. I turned it to the right side and pressed it with the seam at the centre. Having chosen a simple embroidery stitch I then sewed this down both sides. Before assembling the sleeve further I attached this strip down the centre of the sleeve using another embroidery stitch at 10 cm intervals through the strip and sleeve together.

I also sewed the fancy stitch down both edges of the shoulder pleats and around the cuffs. I toyed with the idea of doing this around the collar and centre front as well but I think less was more in this case and I'm pleased with the end result.

Don't ask about the jacket? It's still not finished and I'm putting it to one side at the moment until I am more in the mood to tackle the cuffs. I found this shirt was what I needed to get back to sewing some meaningful items but the lined jacket is still not there...