Michael's new (vintage) Butterick shirt!

Readers, has this ever happened to you?

I wasn't feeling much like sewing yesterday so I decided I'd do some ironing instead.   I started with the vintage cotton floral fabric, freshly laundered, that I intended to use (eventually) to make Michael a shirt, most likely from Butterick 3995, one of the patterns I featured yesterday.



Since the iron was already hot, I decided to press my pattern pieces flat too.



Then, seeing as there weren't that many pieces, I decided to cut them out (the pattern, from 1957, was unused).  Then I figured I might as well cut my fabric out too.   I also replaced my rotary cutter blade -- second time ever.



Long story short, approximately ten hours later, I'd basically finished the shirt.  (I hemmed it this morning.)  Sometimes it really does help to "just put one foot in front of the other," like on Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Compared to many shirt patterns, this one was easy, especially if you skip the front welt pocket (Are they kidding?).  I generally don't put pockets on men's shirts, but if I did, I'd use a patch pocket and save myself a few precious hours.

This pattern is for a short-sleeved shirt, so there were no sleeve plackets.  Furthermore, there's no front button placket (the shirt has fold-back facings), and no collar stand.  In many ways it is similar to Colette's Negroni pattern.  There's simply not that much that can go wrong.



Like Negroni, it even has a little button loop at the collar.



For a novelty cotton shirt like this, I skipped true flat-felled seams and serged or overcast my side and shoulder seams and stitched them down from the outside, to create the same look.  The result is just as strong and way faster.  I'll only fuss for a fancy dress shirt at this point.







This shirt has some cute vintage details you don't see anymore.  I'm particularly fond of the shape of the back collar, which buttons down.



By the way, those buttons are vintage too, picked out by Michael from my button stash.



At the hemline, the front facings were stitched down before turning, and then the entire bottom hem simply pressed up.  I then turned the top edge under 1/4" and edgestitched.





And that, friends, is the story of how I made Michael a shirt in just one day.  Well, one day plus a half hour this morning.



I admit that unanticipated sewing success really does put me in a better mood; it shouldn't.  It also earns me some points with Michael, so the next time we have a sink full of dirty dishes....

You get the idea!

Happy Wednesday, everybody, and happy sewing.

More shirt project photos here.

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Peter models the funky-cuffed summer shirt!

Readers, the shirt is finished and yesterday, with Michael's able assistance, I got to play fashion model!



I am now thinking the lavender cotton shirt fabric, which I had originally identified as lawn, is in fact voile.  Or gauze.  Or something.  As you can see in the photos, it's slightly transparent, loosely woven, and very soft.  In fact, the softness and loose weave resulted in the one (minor) disappointment in the shirt construction.



Not wanting to deal with flat-felled seams on such soft fabric, I'd planned to stitch the sleeves on, serge the seam allowance, and then stitch the seam allowance down to make a mock flat-felled seam.  However, even with the shirt open and flat (before I'd stitched the sleeve and torso closed), I was unable to stitch down the seam allowance without puckering -- it's that stretchy and soft.  This wasn't a tension issue, though it caused some!

I completed one side, and then ripped it out (gently); traces of which are slightly visible.  Has this ever happened to you?



Anyway, with a shirt this casual and summery, it's fine, and it's not like I'm going to be hurling baseballs in it or anything.  The shoulder seam is perfectly secure.



Here are a few more construction details.  You can view the whole folder of construction pics here.

I interfaced the collar stand with knit weft interfacing on just the outer layer.  For the collar itself I used an additional layer of my fashion fabric (I was short on interfacing).  This is one of my better collar stands.







I topstitched all the way around the stand; sometimes I skip that step.  With the exception of the buttonholes, I sewed the shirt entirely on my Featherweight, using a #9 needle.  Anything larger would occasionally snag the fabric.



I finished the sleeves and side seams with French seams, stitching at 2/8" wrong sides together, trimming down to 1/8 inch, pressing, and then stitching right sides together at roughly 3/8".  I like the result -- clean.



The buttonholes, which I made on my 15-91 with my buttonholer attachment, aren't gorgeous.  I chose not to interface the front left button placket and it could have used a little more heft for prettier buttonholes.   Do you see how the fabric puckers along the width of the placket?  Still, they're stable and not particularly noticeable.   (I really should clip those stray threads...)



And that's it.

Here's a little slide show of me modeling the shirt.  No sailors, I'm afraid.

As always, to see these photos full-size, please click on any image.  In Picasa, click on the title of the folder, and then in the left hand corner, "Slideshow."



Happy Sunday, everybody -- and to all your fathers out there, Happy Father's Day!

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Sewing with Old Sheets

Readers, as you probably know, I'm a big fan of repurposing old bedsheets.

I was going to say vintage bedsheets, but really, the age of the sheet doesn't matter, it's the cost that counts.  You see, the best thing about sewing with sheets is that they can usually be found in thrift stores for just a few dollars (if that) and they're generally huge.

A twin flat sheet has more than enough fabric to make a men's shirt, and with a king-size you can probably make a cotton ball gown with a luxuriously high thread count!   Always look out for prominent stains and fading, of course -- we want to avoid those.

I've found some wonderful sheets at the Salvation Army -- the designs from the Seventies are the most fun, I think.  The downside is that in that era, sheets were generally cotton/poly, and they can get smelly.  Then again, you don't have to iron them.

Here are some of my favorite sheet projects...

Shirts, shirts, and more shirts!









And even some of Cathy's outfits.  Don't tell Cathy someone slept in her dress -- besides her.







So yesterday afternoon, as I was finishing up my lavender cotton shirt, I had a vintage sheet epiphany.  As you know, I'd made the collar and collar stand white, which gave the shirt a nice crispness and highlighted the lavender.



Unfortunately, it also gave the shirt a banker-y formality I didn't want.  Plus, a white collar calls for white cuffs, which would only intensify the banker thing, plus, white cuffs show dirt.  What to do?

Then it hit me!  I dug through my collection of vintage sheets and voilà!







Sort of Lily Pulitzer meets Wamsutta, right?

Yes?  No?  Maybe, with a matching bowtie?

The big shirt reveal will be tomorrow but you get the idea.  The sheet -- which is pictured up top -- is a huge Seventies-era flat sheet I found at the Salvation Army last year.  Not sure what I'll do with the rest of it -- maybe a jumpsuit!

In closing, friends, do you ever sew with vintage (or just plain old) sheets? 

When you wear what you've sewn, do people ever guess that you're clothed in second-hand bedding?  (Do they inadvertently start yawning when you tell them?)

Is the ewww factor just too insurmountable?

Sheets-into-clothes: yea or nay?

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BREAKING -- We interrupt this crinoline...

Readers, I can't explain it.  Ever since formally ending the Men's Shirt Sew-Along on Monday, shirt photos have been pouring in over at our Flickr group.  Obviously reverse psychology, emotional manipulation, and veiled threats work!

Pictured above is Taylor, a young Sew-Along participant from Nashville, TN.  Do you see Taylor's muslin?  He drafted it himself.  No Negroni, Butterick, or vintage McCall's for him, oh no!

But that's not all.  Do you see his jeans?  He drafted THOSE himself too!



So awesome did his jeans turn out, in fact, that in January they were featured on the popular men's fashion blog, Put This On.  You can read more about Taylor, his jeans, and his other too-good-to-be-true projects on his blog, TaylorTailor.

But I certainly didn't want to make this all about Taylor.  In fact, if I weren't so non-competitive, generous-spirited, and loving a person, I wouldn't have mentioned him at all.  (Taylor who?)  I need another drag...

But back to our Sew-Along...

OK, readers, this is not a still from Night of the Living Tablecloths, but an incredible muslin produced by participant Kamilee.  Wow and pass the ketchup.



And speaking of picnics, I'm very fond of this lovely gingham Negroni produced by SewRedHot.  I could swear my Allan doll -- which I am hoping to receive today -- has the exact same shirt though his facings are terrycloth.  And he doesn't have that sexy salt and pepper beard...



But there's more!

Put on your 3-D glasses and feast your eyes on this fabulous creation by Sewsister, which apparently represents the actual conception of Lindsay Lohan as seen under an electron microscope.



I am so proud of all the Sew-Alongers, and the many courageous men who braved the unforgiving glare of the flash cube so that these unique creations could be recorded for posterity -- albeit without heads.  And remember, folks: these are just the muslins!

I'll be posting more shirts in the coming weeks, you can be sure.

A big hug to you all!



(photo courtesy of swreflection).

And now, back to The Tulle That Ate My Living Room, already in progress.



Have a great day, everybody!

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How should a man's shirt fit? Peter's 20-shirt challenge!

Quick -- name those celebrity lats!

Friends, with less than one week before our Men's Shirt Sew-Along formally begins, I've been doing a lot of thinking and re-thinking about shirts.  We already have more than 100 Sew-Along participants, with numbers climbing daily, many using the Colette Negroni pattern and many using shirt patterns of their own choosing.  The shirt button numbers alone are staggering.

The construction details we're going to be addressing are relatively straightforward: flat-felled seams, rolled hems, sleeve plackets, collar stand and collar, etc.  The fabric you'll be working with is of your own choosing, and I can see from our Flickr group that they range from traditional stripe to Sixties acid trip.

Yesterday I took some time to closely investigate my own shirt collection, a mix of ready-to-wear shirts I've accumulated over the years, and my own creations crafted from vintage shirt patterns.

I also spent a few hours re-reading David Page Coffin's take on fitting a shirt and self-drafting a pattern from his classic book, Shirtmaking, which I know many of you are familiar with.





I want accurate fitting to be a focus of our Sew-Along and I think you do too.  I put on my thinking cap and have decided to invite a professional into our Sew-Along project!  Starting on the very first day of our Sew-Along I will be working privately with -- I can't mention his name yet, but you know it.  And what I learn I will be sharing with you here and in our Flickr group as we work on fitting our muslins and our final shirts.  You can get by with pinked seam allowances and bargain basement fabric, but if the shirt doesn't fit it's going to be obvious to everyone.

Fit has to be a sewist's biggest challenge.  It's also one that I have managed to avoid on my upper half, having convinced myself that I can wear a shirt made straight from a commercial pattern.  The truth is that I can get away with wearing a shirt made straight from a pattern.  The fit, however, is never ideal.

I've examined and recorded the fit of twenty shirts and I can tell you with confidence that none fits perfectly.  Some are closer than others of course, but there's work to do.

Most are decent, especially in front, where I have fewer fit issues.



 

Others, well....  off to the thrift store they go!



If you have the time and the inclination to pore through more than 100 pics of me in 20 different shirts, you can see them all here.   Strong coffee and a comfortable chair are recommended.

I kid you not when I say that before I started sewing, I gave the fit of this Brooks Brothers's shirt nary a second thought.  It was just the way things were.



Things have gotten better now that I make my own shirts, but there is tweaking to be done and I am ready to tweak.



Friends, we are going to do this together and we will have expert help.  Life is too short to stumble in semi-darkness.

Sew-Alongers and Sew-Along fence sitters, your assignment this week is to take a close look at the fit of either your own men's shirt (if you're male), or the shirt of the person you'll be sewing for (if you're female), preferably on the person himself.  Everybody else, do what makes sense.  With regards to fit, what works for you (and him) and what doesn't?  What looks too loose, what looks too tight?

If you can, upload a pic or two to the Flickr group page, so we can see what the perceived problems are.  We are shame-free here at MPB, rest assured.

And now, I've much to do -- including contending once again with this.



Will it never end?

Have a great day everybody.  How are those men's shirt fitting?  What are the challenges?  Share!

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