Sew What You Need in June

When I was trying to pack light for my recent travels, I was having some difficulty putting together a small capsule wardrobe. Many pieces in my wardrobe are standalones, and trying to put together 5 or 6 pieces that could be interchangeable was harder than I'd expected! I really noticed a lack of button up shirts in my closet. I was hoping to take one that I could wear as a shirt and also open as a kind of jacket. There was nothing really suitable for that purpose.

And then a Sew Over 50 challenge called "Sew What You Need June" popped up in my IG feed and I thought, well, I know what I need! So I've decided I could really stand to make one or two solid colour button up shirts for my wardrobe this month. 

I have sorted through my patterns and chosen a few that might do the trick. I have 3 choices for a long sleeved button up shirt, just have to choose one to move forward with! 

I have also pulled 3 patterns for short sleeved button front blouses, all from my thrifted retro stash; the Simplicity one has a hidden button placket. The Simplicity and Burda ones use small amounts of fabric so might work well with some of my recent thrift store fabric purchases. 

I have a few fabrics I'd like to make summer wear with, so hopefully I can match up at least one of these blouse patterns with one of these fabrics! I seem to be sewing very slowly these days so if I can get to one I will be happy :) 

Solid rayon, cotton & linen

Colorful cotton prints!

I AM Barbara in Skull & Crossbones

I've had this project in mind for a few months, and with a weekend of intense sewing, managed to get it made in time for my Halloween workwear! 

The I AM Barbara blouse caught my eye a while back - I don't have anything like it; it was the flounces that interested me. I like the ones with the least flounce to them, and thought that this fabric was a perfect match to this design. I bought it with this project in mind, and happily it all came together just as nicely as I'd imagined in my head! 

The fabric was originally a 100% cotton IKEA sheet, which I bought at the Goodwill. When I saw it, it looked like a repeated print in black & white, which fits into my wardrobe parameters. But when I looked a little closer, I saw that it is tiny skull & crossbones. How delightful! 

And, the fabric is very soft and light, so I thought that a double layer, like in the Barbara blouse, would work well with it. It wouldn't be too bulky, and it would also be a bit more wearable if two layers make it a tiny bit less transclucent. 

I really enjoyed sewing this, even if I was pushing myself to finish it. The instructions were clear, even with some fussy bits like the front hidden placket piece.

I ended up not doing it perfectly but close enough to wear and be functional - that's all I ask! I also made a small boo-boo on one cuff, which buttons the opposite way to the other, but that's easily fixable but removing and replacing that cuff. I will do that at some point ;) 

I cut a 42/44 with a little more width at the hip/hem. And I had to shorten the sleeve by 5/8", which meant also shortening the flounces. I didn't take any length off the body of the blouse, in fact I added 1/2" to the bottom to give me more hem allowance. I think that it's just right. 

I used flat black buttons for the placket, but used 4 hole buttons for the collar and cuffs (the visible buttons) so that I could stitch them on in an X pattern using white thread, to echo the print. I really love everything about this! 

The fabric is so soft to wear, and works really well with this design. The only slight drawback is that it needs a lot of pressing! I love it and am so glad I pushed to get it done. This is an interesting design that I enjoyed making, and I also love the fabric a lot. 

Weekend Review: The Shirt Off His Back

 

The Shirt Off His Back / Juliet Bawden
Hauppage, NY: Barrons, c2011
143 p.

Another upcycling title this month - this book is an interesting look at using men's shirts to make household and decorative items, rather than new clothing. There's a wide variety of projects here, so hopefully there's something to suit everyone. 

The book is arranged in an interesting way: starting with an introduction on dress shirts and the basics of deconstruction, it then arranges the chapters by type of shirt. We have Businessmen's Shirts, Creative Men's shirts, Outdoorsy Men's shirts, and Sporty Men's shirts. The different fabrics and prints of these kinds of shirts are used to advantage in the varied projects included. 

From pillows and bunting to chair covers and cloth buckets, to hats, place mats, doorstops or hampers, there is a wide range of ideas included - these are only a few of the 30 projects found here. For each, there is a good clear photo of the finished item, step by step instructions and a few illustrations. For a few of the projects there are also templates, found at the back of the book to be traced off (right on the final pages, not a separate enclosure). 

Anyone who enjoys upcycling and happens to have some men's shirts to reuse will find this a useful book. So many ways to use a shirt that is mostly still good! I love the idea of making bunting from striped shirts, so cute -- and using the front of a button down to cut into a quick apron. Lots of great ideas to reuse things that can't be a good donation to thrift shops because of condition, or just because you might love the fabric a lot. And this kind of upcycling is also a great way to get newer sewists interested in the wide world of making ;) This was an enjoyable book, a great collection of useful and practical upcycle projects that you might actually want to make. 

Weekend Review: Sewing Shirts with a Perfect Fit

Sewing Shirts with a Perfect Fit / David Page Coffin
Beverly MA: Quarto, c2019
144 p.

Is there anyone more identified with sewing shirts than David Page Coffin? I'm not sure about that -- unless it's Peter Lappin!

I picked up this book at a sale site a while ago and still haven't fully explored all the potential in it. It is packed with information, tutorials and technique, plus projects. It's broken up into two primary sections. It starts with Fit: an overview of types of shirt fit, the concept of draping and then how to drape a loose fit, fitted, or tight shirt. Then it moves on to 4 basic projects, including two shirts, a shirt jacket and a shirtdress.

The concept of fit in this book is not flat pattern manipulation or adjustments, at all. The whole idea is to drape a shirt to get the fit to be just what you want it. This would be fantastic if you were sewing for others, or, if you had a perfect dress form that is exactly your shape. Sewing for yourself using this technique would otherwise be impossible (which he acknowledges in the intro).

Although, in the project section, he describes making a body clone for this purpose, using tinfoil, muslin and foam. So you could give it a go if you wanted to! Other than that caveat, the book itself is so full of information, great illustrations and small tips that will make a big difference in your projects.

There is extra online information too, and it's important to check the publisher's online resources for this book -- along with the full construction details for all the projects, downloadable patterns, and technique tips, there is also an errata noting errors in the printed pattern tools included with the book. Be sure to check this page before using the paper inserts.

The paper pattern tools are tucked into an envelope inside the front cover; there are two sheets which provide armhole and sleeve cap curves to use in your shirt fitting work. (as noted, check the website for an updated pdf with the correct armhole curves on it).

Each style of shirt has a full section on proper fit, how to adjust for a soft or crisp fabric, construction order and technique, along with many full colour illustrations. The photos often have each piece -- ie, back, yoke and sleeve -- in contrasting fabrics so that you can clearly see the pieces and seams he is referring to. I found this very useful. And there are instructions on how to turn your draping into a paper pattern, and a section on fine finishing details.

This is another excellent resource by David Page Coffin, and it may inspire me to try this technique to see if I can manage to get a good result with something so new to me. There is so much detail on all aspects of the shirtmaking process that I'm sure reading this book thoroughly would help even if you were just using a commercial pattern and tweaking it. Definitely recommended!