Back in May of 2016, (I can’t believe it’s been that long), I ordered some blue cotton poplin fabric from Mood Fabrics that had campers, flamingos, and other beachy things on it.
The intent was to make a shirt for Keith for Christmas that he could wear to work on dress-down Fridays or to hang out at the coast. I think I had been inspired by a blog post from another sewing blogger who had made a shirt for her spouse and thought, “Oh yeah, that’s cool! I wanna do that!” Fabric arrived, I put it on the cutting table, then moved it to a shelf, and then it went into the fabric stash oblivion. Fast forward to December 2017 and I bought a Craftsy class on sale with Janet Pray, “Sew Better, Sew Faster: Shirtmaking.”
I have a couple of her classes and I really like her style and this particular class is geared toward making a men’s shirt. A downloadable pattern comes with the class but I didn’t have the ink to print it so I pulled out Simplicity 1544. I figured I’d use this pattern and her techniques.
One thing I did with this pattern was to match it with a shirt that Keith wears already to make sure it would fit. I had to add about 3 inches overall to the length on the lengthen/shorten lines and I made it with short sleeves using the measurements from said existing shirt. Otherwise, I left the pattern as-is.
I had a lot of fun with pattern matching. In this instance, Steam-a-Seam is your friend. I folded the edges of the pocket under, added the SAS to the pocket edges, placed it perfectly on the shirt front, and ironed it in place. I did the back yoke the same way. I’m giving those factory workers a run for their money. 🙂
The collar. Oh boy that collar. And of course, I had to make it harder on myself by making it a contrasting band. Why not? Yeah, why not, I mean, how hard can it be? Do I get credit for making a muslin if I really didn’t but I took it apart and re-sewed it more than once…or twice? Honestly, by the third time, I was a pro. Janet’s method of making a collar burrito is ingenious and I cannot express in words the sheer joy of success when I got it right. Really. I did a dance around the kitchen like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky at the top of the steps.
Keith isn’t much for modeling so this is the best I could get. You should have seen his smile when I gave it to him Christmas morning. He really likes things I make vs. things that are bought. He’s such a sweetie.
And look what was waiting for me Christmas Day! I think my Santa thinks I’ve been a very good girl!!
How about you? Did Santa satisfy your stitching itch?
(This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase the Crafty class using the link in this blog, I will receive a small commission…and you’ll love the class!!)