Thinking Ahead -- Summer Beach Shirt

We're all craving some warmer weather here in northern New England. 40 degrees would be heavenly! How twisted is that??? So to keep myself from going completely crazy I've been working on some summer clothes.

 

My latest is this cotton shirt.

 

 

The "short over long" look, done up in a very lightweight cotton border print. Cotton lawn? Voile? I really don't know the difference. What I do know is that, as much as I love the colors and design, this fabric is a little too sheer for me to feel comfortable wearing. Therefore, I've made a double layer shirt.

 

I'll leave wearing see-through shirts to these guys!

 

 

 

 

I wish I'd taken a picture of this fabric before I started cutting it up. It must have been about 60" wide with the pattern clustered in repeating triangle shapes along one edge. In my usual cheapskate ways I only bought 2 yards, which gave me a little less than three repeats of the pattern. Of course, at the time, I wasn't thinking about making a double layer shirt; so I thought that 2 yards would be more than enough for a short sleeved shirt. I had to get very creative with the cutting, which is another way of saying that it took forever to cut this shirt out!

 

 

 

 

No way to match this bad boy, so I opted for a pullover style with a placket front. This is just the sleeve placket from David Page Coffin's Shirtmaking book on steroids. It's a great example of one skill leading to the next. If you can make a sleeve placket, you can make a placket front shirt of your own design. I went with a simple band collar out of necessity. There just wasn't enough fabric for a collar; and even if there was I think I'd still go for the band.

 

 

I do like a left chest pocket on my shirts. This is actually a hack of Roberto Cabrera's back welt pocket for trousers. It makes for a neat french seamed pocket, sandwiched between the two layers of the shirt. Well worth the time spent making it, plus it's just fun to do.

 

 

 

A slit at the side seams of the inner shirt is made by extending the seam allowances an additional 5/8". The extensions are pressed back and edgestitched in place.

 

A construction shot showing the extensions on the inner shirt. The sleeve and side seams (both layers) are french seamed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fabric -- cotton border print $7/ yd. From one of those incredibly cramped fabric stores in NYC

Interfacing -- Light Crisp sew-in from Fashion Sewing Supply

Buttons - Genuine shell from Fashion Sewing Supply. (Ooops, sold out!)

 

Ridiculously inexpensive and FUN summer beach shirt. I can't wait to wear it!

 

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The - "what was I thinking???? - muslin

I'm not sure what on earth made me think I could just cut this shirt out and it would fit.  I really deserve a good "dope slap" for this one,  especially after participating in Peter's MPB shirt sew-along last year.  

Hopefully you can look past the crazy fabric.  This was a $2 twin sheet at Goodwill.  As always, I need a sloped shoulder adjustment.  Why I just didn't start there I'll never know.  Essentially this pattern, apparently based on an historical garment, is just a rectangle with sleeves stuck on it.  It really isn't going to fit anyone.  I'm not planning on attending any historical re-enactments any time soon, so I've got some work to do.  

The huge diagonal fold coming from my arm pit is a sure sign that a sloped shoulder adjustment is in order.  It sounds horrible, but I've learned that it's not hard to do.  On the positive side, the bib and plackets were very easy to do.  I've put in the "X" topstitch detail called for in the directions, but have decided to leave it out.  It's a little too Timberland for a dressy shirt IMO.  There's lots I don't like about this pattern, which I'll get into eventually. 

As if the front isn't bad enough, the back is voluminous.  

I added a sleeve  placket, a la David Coffin.  This alone is worth the price of his book.  I just wish his editor had made the instructions accompany the illustrations.  They don't, so one is constantly flipping from page to page to make sense of it all.  It's totally maddening.  I'm happy with the sleeve length, but the cuffs are too small.  That's an easy fix.  

Time to start ripping this mess apart!  There's hope for this shirt yet.  

When good books go bad

I'll confess up front that I don't own very many books on sewing.

The Bishop Method of Clothing Construction has been a valuable friend, although I tremble that the ghost of Edna Bishop may suddenly  appear and rap my knuckles with a french curve if I sew a seam in the wrong direction.  

Participating in Peter's shirt sew-along, and the impending wedding have moved me out of my "outerwear mode".  To prepare for my new projects I picked up both Shirtmaking by David Coffin and Classic Tailoring Techniques by Roberto Cabrera.  Both books have the reputation as being the authority on their subjects.  

I'll start with shirtmaking and hope that David Page Coffin NEVER reads this blog.  Readers, do you have any slightly OCD habits that you'd like to keep hidden from the world.  Do you have trouble sleeping knowing that there are dirty dishes in the dishwasher?  Can't leave the house if the bed isn't made?  Maybe you have to set two alarms in case one fails?  Trust me, you will feel completely normal after you delve into DPC's world of obsessive shirtmaking.  To be fair, there is some great information here.  There are templates for shirt plackets, cuffs, collars and stands.  Gotta love that.  There's also a great design ideas chapter to help create your own unique shirts.  Much of the book, however, involves overly complicated construction techniques that will have you wanting to mix a pitcher of martinis before noon.  He will convince you that a decent shirt can't possibly be sewn without a felling foot and a hem roller.  I think the MPB sew-along proved this false about 100 times.  You will also end up pulling, stretching, trimming and swearing for results, that in the long run, really aren't worth it.  Personally, I've never been bothered by the amount of fabric in the seam where my shirt cuffs meet the placket.  If you have, then by all means pick up this book.  

You will read plenty of glowing reviews on Amazon for Classic Tailoring Techniques by Roberto Cabrera.  There is nothing flashy about this book.  There are very few photos.  The model appears to be a fifteen year old prep school student from the '70's.  Bizarre.  There are, however, page after page of clear line drawings moving step by step through the construction process.  This makes tackling something new much easier for me.  No getting around it, there is a lot of very technical information here.  But it seems to lack the fanatical tone of the Shirtmaking book.  My experience with the shirt process has altered my approach to the jacket.  There are just some features / techniques that really don't matter to me.  For example I don't intend to handstitch the front facing with barely visible stitches done in silk finishing thread.  This is $8.50 / yd linen, not $250 / yard imported Italian cashmere.  Do I need to drive myself crazy making a Barcelona inside chest pocket, or will a simple welt pocket a la Edna Bishop do the job?  

Books are a great resource, but following them slavishly has proven to take much of the joy out of my projects.  I'm sure I'm not alone on this one.