Geckos in Black – Simplicity 1544
This is a repeat shirt pattern I made for hubs for Christmas of 2016. He likes to wear novelty shirts on Casual Friday at work and he asked me for another shirt. I showed him some fabric options and he chose Geckos in Black from Southwest Fabric, an Etsy shop run by Peggy Baird. I ordered 3 yards so I’d have plenty for pattern matching. Sorry for the glare from the lighting.
Check out the pattern matching on the back yoke. Steam-a-Seam my friends.
The pattern was an easy sew and I found that stitching on black hides a multitude of sins like not-so-straight top stitching. If you’re just starting to learn men’s shirt collars, I highly suggest doing so on black fabric and not using a contrast collar on the first (or second) attempt.
I modified the pattern to accommodate Keith’s 50″ shoulders and 38″ waist. If sewn as drafted from the envelope, it would look like a tent around his mid-section. He’s definitely a sport-cut kind of guy when it comes to menswear. I also did a short sleeve. Who wears a novelty shirt with long sleeves?
After I finished it, I hung it in his closet for him to wear. The next Casual Friday rolled around and he comes out of the bedroom ready to go to work and he’s not wearing it. I said, “Hey, I go to all that work for your new shirt and you’re not going to wear it?” He said, “There’s no pocket.” What? No. That can’t be. I went to look and sure enough – no pocket. Ugh.
Well, that issue can be fixed easy enough…if you still have scraps. But I didn’t! I looked at home, I looked at our other house at the coast, I dug through every bin and by some freak of nature, I didn’t keep any of the scraps. Now this fabric is $12 a yard and shipping is $6.70 so we’re talking another $20 for an 8″ square of fabric. He said not to worry about it but I know he’d never wear the shirt unless it was the last one in the inventory – which never happens since I do laundry more than once a week.
So I went into my Etsy account and lamented to the seller about my stupidity and the situation hoping she still had some in stock. I asked if I could buy just 1/4 yd of fabric if that was at all possible. I mean I would buy a full yard if that was the rule but I was crossing my fingers. Let me tell you about this wonderful lady. Not only did she send me 1/4 yard of fabric, she sent it to me for FREE! I couldn’t believe it! I just love our sewing community. They are the most wonderful, giving, and generous souls. In our emails she said she completely understood the absolute need for a pocket and the fabric was on the way. She has definitely earned a repeat customer!
Can you see the pocket? No?
It’s right here!
He wore it to work yesterday and he said his buddy wants me to make him one and Keith told him “No, she only makes shirts for me.” Men…
I just couldn’t let Peggy’s generosity go unacknowledged so I promised this glowing review of Southwest Fabrics on my blog. I also had a bit left after the pocket so I whipped up a pair of pot holders for her with a thank you note. I hope she likes them. 🙂 I put them in the mail yesterday. I DID have a rust colored scrap just big enough for the backing.
