fourth time is a charm

In my shirtmaking adventure, the first shirt was, um, icky.

The second was too small. I may go back to it after the husband loses some weight. Until then, it's a UFO (unfinished object) on the side of my sewing table.

The third was too big and I had to alter to twice. And there were flaws. Also the fabric was heavy.  However it may work for a winter shirt.

But the fourth one... the fourth one is AWESOME! It fits perfectly!

I think I have gotten the hang of it now. There are just a few more little tweaks, but overall I am pleased. Just in time for Father's Day!

I have several fabrics stacked up ready to make into beautiful shirts!

sewing, but not posting

I know, I know... it's been crazy around here.

I made up a few snoodsnood™s before we left town for a week. As soon as I can locate my camera, I will show them. I also made a shirt for the husband from Kwik Sew 3422. Alas, it is a bit snug. I am not upset since he has started a weight loss program. I'll try it on him again in a few months.

As soon as we got back, unpacked, decompressed and relaxed a bit, I started on another shirt for the husband. This time it's a dress shirt using the pattern Kwik Sew 2777 (in a larger size). The fabric is a bit heavy, but overall I am pleased. I have to add buttonholes and buttons today. Of course he is out of town for a few days. When he returns, I'll have him model it for a photo.

Moving right along... I'm making another shirt from the same pattern with a few modifications. I'm finding the more I sew, the more likely I am to ignore the pattern instructions and wing it. For example, I didn't like the plackets from the pattern, so I made my own. Also, I prefer the cuffs from another pattern, so I'm switching those out as well.

Of course, time away from the sewing machine gave me plenty of opportunity to stack up new projects. One is a new cover for my Boppy pillow. The original cover had something spilled on it that will not come out, and since I had some cute fabric just sitting around, I used the original as a pattern and made a cute new cover. :-) I didn't like the way the flap was closing, so I added these cute little green flower buttons.

I probably should start on baby clothes as I only have eight weeks left of baking the little one!

One last thing... on a 'I really will do that this year' note, I am already planning my Christmas presents for the family!!! Of course, exactly what it is will remain a secret until the end of the year. ;-)

finished the 'starter' shirt

With the husband back home, I was able to finish up his shirt. I made button holes, sewed buttons and hemmed. All in all I learned a lot from this first shirt... such as how many things I'll do differently on the next one (and how very cool an automatic buttonhole foot is!). Which is the point of doing what is referred to as a 'muslin'.

I did not snap a photo of the finished product. The shirt is not my best work and he'll never wear it outside of the house. However, I have fabric ready for the next one. Hopefully I'll like it well enough to show it off.

In the meantime, I have other projects. I'll be working on the oldest child's dress and I'm participating in MPB Jeans Sew-Along. Stay tuned!

it started with a shirt

A few weeks ago my husband said he wanted to order a custom made shirt. He already has a few, so this wasn't an 'out of the blue' idea. However, they can be somewhat expensive. So, I got to thinking... why pay someone else to make his shirts? I could do it! I mean, I thought I could do it. I'd have to practice for a while, get back into the swing of sewing, make a couple of 'samples'. But this is something I could do!

A bit of savvy searching on the interwebs about making shirts brought me to an awesome blog called Male Pattern Boldness. Peter is this guy in NYC who bought his very first sewing machine in 2009 and today makes all my own clothes using vintage patterns and vintage sewing machines. Heck, I've been sewing on and off for years. If he could make a shirt, so could I!

More searching brought me to a blog called Macaroni & Cheese, written by my dear friend Jacki. Among all her sewing projects for herself and the kids, she had also been making shirts for her husband. Better yet, she had blogged about it! She mentioned Kwik Sew 3422. I checked it out and thought it was something I could manage. Off to the store I went.

first fitting, however the shirt is clearly not for her.

I bought the pattern and some sample shirting fabric in a nice shade of blue to practice. Ugh... the first time of making anything takes me sooooo much time. And it didn't help that when I wasn't working on it I was reading all I could about shirt construction and sewing techniques. Several times I tore apart what I had done the day before just to do it another way. Remember, I have a healthy working relationship with my seam ripper. ;-)

It took a couple of days, but I finally got the first shirt together. However, I already want to make several changes in the construction of the next one.