Present Joys

The last three shirts of the summer. I actually finished these several weeks ago, but I’ve been so busy with other. In the interest of completeness, here they finally are! Visually, these aren’t too exciting. Especially because they look very wrinkly in these photos. But they’re probably the three best-fitting shirts I’ve made yet—and that’s the goal! Two of these shirts are made from Kaffe Fasett’s shot cotton, one in periwinkle and one in crimson. The other is a slightly heavier cotton-print polka dot—my first polka dot shirt. All three are from Sew to Speak.

All three of these shirts are practical, good things to have in my wardrobe, and I’m looking forward to wearing them a lot this fall. I’ve already made good use of the bright red one by wearing it as part of a cowboy costume for Vacation Bible School! It has the most exaggerated spearpoint collar I’ve ever made. But I’m becoming quite comfortable in spearpoint collars so it’s not a big deal!

I finished these shirts in early july. Since then, I’ve been tailoring a coat completely by hand. Though it is very rewarding, it’s been taking a lot of time. I’m almost finished with it, and will have it done in time to go back to school on monday. Photos to come shortly.

Thanks to everyone who’s been following along with my sewing adventures this summer! Here’s to making even more things in the future.

Last week, I made a special father’s day shirt for my dad, who is a very serious guitar player! I cut this shirt from a new pattern based on my existing pattern, one of my dad’s existing shirts, and some direct measurements. He wanted a very easy-fitting shirt. The fit isn’t perfect (I should say there are minor “lateral balance problems”), but it’s cool and he was happy with it. Overall a success! And it’s always good to remember why I have a policy of not making clothes for other people—too stressful!

I made one other shirt for myself this week, in a blue-green soft chambray. The fabric is the same as the orange stuff I used a few weeks ago, however, the cut is much better and truer. I gave this shirt a more “normal” collar shape, that is, not spearpoint-shaped. I pleated the sleeves into the cuffs. The most exciting thing about this shirt is the color; it’s this wild blue-green. The warp is a cool, purple-blue and the weft is a warm green-blue; combined, they make a very intriguing robin’s-egg color. How will I ever be able to accessorize this?!

I ran out of pearl shirt buttons after I finished my dad’s guitar shirt. I’m planning a trip to Cincinnati in a few weeks, where I’ll be able to get some more deadstock pearl shirt buttons at Banasch’s. Until then, anything I make will have to do without buttons until then!