A Fail but Wearable

 Oh, I look so silly, happy in this picture but this shirt is so full of mistakes, all pretty much my own. First, a little background. 

I am on a shirt binge. So many of us who have gone from career wear to a life of retirement really stumble through a lost land of what to wear. It's loaded with style mistakes, dissatisfactions and frequent temptations to just give up on the whole idea of ever looking put together again. Who has sweats on sale? 

Luckily, those of us who sew usually love fashion, fabric, and looking halfway decent and don't give up so easily. For us, it can take a while but eventually the evolution takes place and we end up in the place we have defined as the "new" us. 

I have figured out I love wearing, sewing and the style options of shirts. They certainly challenge my sewing skills, unlike many of the simple garments I see being made out there and that I never wore in my work life. A great shirt/blouse (who cares which is which?) is so damn versatile. It can be so comfortable and oh, the fabrics you can shop for and use! It can top off a corduroy pair of slacks or chinos or any kind of pants with great style and finish or just let you look pretty decent around the house doing around the house things. It does this far better than a tee and jeans. The way shirts look is good. So I have decided to really pursue my skill set as well as my wardrobe around shirts. You may have noticed the ones I've made lately and you will see more. 

I've been inspired in my shirtmaking journey by two women who have some serious skills in that department. One is Karen Euter.  Put her name in Youtube and watch her shirt videos. She has not been sewing long, people,  but she takes her sewing and learning seriously. She makes lots of shirts. She takes you on a journey inside each one. They are exquisitely finished inside.  Her button downs are incredible. The above flannel shirt is my attempt at one of the patterns she uses constantly,  Simplicity 1538.

The other shirt maker I enjoy is Kim from Stash Stitcher on youtube. While I have been watching her for some time she currently just finished a 5 part series on shirt making which she is a pro at.  I learned a lot from her. I particularly loved how she went about her bottom corner and hem treatment there. I learned something new for sure! But there is much to learn from her series. She is a mature woman who makes beautiful clothing and so very well. Here is a link to the series: Stash Stitcher Shirt Making Series   Kim has a great personality and teaches well. She knows how to sew all sorts of garments. Enjoy! 

 The back with the belt. 

So why is this shirt a fail? I just screwed up all along the way. I used what I had on hand for interfacing which I thought would be fine with the heavier flannel. It wasn't. 

In the pic at the very top you can see the button band flipping out, the collar refusing to go down or even bend, just wrong and too late to fix. I now have a selection of lighter interfacing I am experimenting with, courtesy dear sewing friend, Mary J. I will use it on my next shirt. Will you look at how I put my label on the outside of the collar. That was boastfully intentional and I think the powers above punished my brazenness with the continuing errors I made with this top. The label will be removed. 

I used a burrito method for the yoke. That went well. 

The good placket and buttonhole 

Sleeves went in the armscyes very nicely. Before that I did the lapped bindings in the contrast flannel and attached the cuffs. Then I did the buttons and BHs. At no point did I realize I had set my "laps" opposite on one sleeve than they way they should have faced. I ironed my new shirt, tried it on and realized the second cuff had the placket going backwards from the way it should have been going. It was folded the wrong way so put into the cuff the wrong way, of course with the BH now all stitched and cut.  This meant the button, when closed, left a twisted mess of placket and was hard to button as well. It also looked ridiculous. You can't see it in the pics but its awful and will be ripped out as soon as I am done with this blogpost. 

Whew, that's enough but you do get real sewing around here. You also get to witness my persistence and the fact that I don't do wadders. I've had one in the past 20 years that I can remember and it was a design feature the just did not work. Others complained as well about that one. 

ETA 2/20/2025: I forgot to mention the buttonhole thread debacle which I rectified by actually painting them. You can see this by actually clicking on "older post" at the end of this one. There I explain how I go thru the process of painting thread permanently. I have washed this shirt and the color change/paint held up perfectly, no color change or fade at all. 

 

I also had issues with buttonhole placement. I always start by placing the first buttonhole at my bustline and go from there. For whatever reason, I chose to use the buttonhole pattern strip to place the BHs. This ended up putting the first BH too high and in an odd place on my short upper chest and none on my bustline. I won't trust those strips again. I can't believe that at this stage of my sewing journey it was the first time I trusted one of these strips. I am short so never used them before and never will again. 

I still like my warm flannel shirt and comfy old corduroy pants (leftover from heavier days but so soft). Sometimes this just happens  and it is time to move on. 

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I'll leave you with an indulgent picture, more of a portrait. I am going to send it to my daughter as it's pretty authentic and I think she will like it. You know from reading my blog that you get front, backs, sides, details of my makes. I try to make them interesting but no graffiti walls are ever behind me! None out here in the woods! I have often thought, while playing photographer, why don't I take a picture sitting down? But you wouldn't see the garment well, so I don't. Well today I took one sitting down. What a difference, don't ya think?  I like the lighting on this one. ...............Bunny