Sewing Vloggers

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The Denim Workshirt - McCall's 6613

The work shirt is done. I hope it is the first of several. I like the roomy-ness and casual attitude of it all. I will wear this to death. I hope to make a couple more. The way you see it here is one way I would wear it, with jeans and brown leather boots. There are just so many ways a good ole' boy workshirt can be feminized.

Pattern:
This is McCalls 6613, a Palmer Pletsch Unisex pattern.  It is sized by chest size and I made the smallest size,  34-36 chest, and that gave me a finished chest measurement of 40 inches. So this is very roomy. There are not darts or any fit for that matter. This is not a difficult pattern. I actually never really looked at it. But I did refer to the Zieman Collar and the Colllar Band Tute in the sidebar tutorials.

Fabric:
This is a hundred percent cotton denim from Joanns, nothing special other than I did not want lycra and I did not get any. It's not easy finding denims without stretch. It is relatively lightweight. It is too light for jeans but it is a bit heavier than a chambray, what work shirts are often made of. It washed really nicely and took the topstitching well.

Construction:
I did some changes with the garment fit. I cut down the pockets all around by a 1/4 inch . You can see they are still pretty large. I think I would cut them down a bit more the next iteration. It's a petite thing. I try to make any details smaller to be more in scale with my proportions. I also cut down the collar band by a 1/4 inch width as well as the collar. I am glad I did. I think you'll agree the proportions are good. This is a unisex shirt and they compromised the details toward the male wearer, IMO. Did I "petite" the cuffs? No. I like deep cuffs and actually recut them to the width that I wanted. I felt their cuffs were too narrow. Seams are stitched and serged and topstitched. The topstitching was with variegated "denim" thread. Never again. It looks spotty once stitched and I don't recommend it. Live and learn! I used my monster old Kenmore to do the buttonholes. Facings with graded interior seams and collar band buttonholes are just not anything I even wanted to try with my computerized Pfaff, just too much aggravation. The old Kenmore sails through buttonholes perfectly no matter how many odd layers it has to go over. I treasure that old machine and it is always set up in buttonhole mode, at the ready!

One thing I did not care for but it was too late when I realized it, was the placket for the cuffs. The pattern would have you do a simple seam, ironed open and clean finished. I never would have chosen to do a placket that way and next time won't. I was able to save the situation by lapping one seam allowance over the other and double topstitching. The interior edges were serged. It looked a bit more finished than just a pressed open seam.

All in all, this is a pretty good pattern with some adjustments made to more flatter a small female. I can see myself making this again. I would do the pockets differently, smaller and maybe with a flap. It's a keeper!


Today was a daycation, a sewing one! We are in the throws of , no kidding, an epic blizzard. This area pretty much shut down at noon today and it looks like it will take major digging out tomorrow. We already have a foot and we haven't had the worst of it yet. The storm warning is on till 8:00 tomorrow night. They are talking2-3 feet of snow, temps in the single digits (we are almost there now) and very heavy winds and "thunder snow". Hubby and I are hunkered down and it doesn't look like we will have work tomorrow. 


I managed to prep my pattern and cut out another ITY top. This one is a tunic and a Very Easy Very Vogue pattern. It is oddly cut for fit adjustments. I am hoping my flat pattern measuring will serve me well. It looks like it will fit other than a couple of small tweaks. More to come......Stay safe all in the path of Vulcan...Bunny

24 comments:

  1. Nice job on the shirt, Bunny. I have this pattern and will be making some work shirts for me when the ones in the closet finally wear out. Palmer and Pletsch patterns are my favorites as they are so easy to fit.

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  2. Nice WORK shirt, ha! Very lovely with the little bunny tag : ) Your garments always look nicer than ready to wear, truly!

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  3. A great basic, Bunny, and perfectly executed!

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  4. Lovely work again! You are such an inspiration to sew the very best one can!

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  5. awesome...........is this the first time I have seen you use your label?

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    1. I must have a thousand little bunny labels, all on one big roll I picked up for a dollar at the old Fabric Fix store. For a while I wasn't bothering but I will start putting them on again. I think they are kind of cute and not the usual label.

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  6. Looks fabulous!

    WNY was in that blizzard warning also. We've gotten about 1-1 1/2 feet so far. North of the city got much more.

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  7. We had snow today too. If you are like me, you've had enough :) Great shirt. Perfect addition to any wardrobe.

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  8. Very nice shirt and I love the bunny tag!!!

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  9. A comfy shirt in an endless winter....

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  10. what a fantastic crisp looking shirt and I just love the little bunny tab in the pocket :-) we are experiencing wonderful weather (after all the floods and storms) makes me wonder when the snow will arrive - it still possible any time between now and May but for now I am enjoying the sunshine and spring flowers

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  11. Looks great and the pleat down the back should add a lot of comfort. Your Bunny tag is perfect!

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  12. Love your shirt, Bunny! It turned out perfectly -- but no surprise there. Your work is always impeccable!
    2 feet of snow? You have got to be kidding. If you're considering a move, I have a really good suggestion for you!!

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  13. I so love that bunny label! What a cute little detail on a great shirt! Your shirts are always pressed so well. I need your iron!

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    1. It's a Rowenta. I would like to upgrade to a Reliable Velocity but this one just won't die.

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  14. Love the shirt. Beautifully crafted .Cute bunny tag. We are in the middle of a blizzard her on the east coast of Canada too!!

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    1. It has moved on for us and we now have sunny bitterly cold skies. We got close to two feet with big drifts as it was so windy. We're good, though. No power loss here!

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  15. I love the bunny! Your shirt came out great. We didn't get snow, but the temps have been in the single digits with howling winds. I'll take any excuse to have a day to sew. But I'm getting really tired of the snow at this point.

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  16. Absolutely perfect! All the alterations where right on point, this is indeed a beautiful shirt to be worn and worn for many years!! Great job, Bunny!!

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  17. How cool this looks, Bunny...great everyday wear & so very stylish! I know you are going to get lots of use out of this shirt AND the pattern, too. I bet it would look very classy in a nice weight/good quality white fabric. ADORE that belt...what a statement piece!

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  18. A nice shirt. Well done.

    Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

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  19. So nicely made. This will be a versatile garment.

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