Victorian Shirt - Round 2. Simplifying the placket?

I'm really pleased with how the purple Victorian shirt turned out.  There are still some things, however,  that could use some tweaking.  I think while the construction is fresh in my mind, this is the time to make another.  So here goes.  

My major goal with this version is to simplify the front bib and placket construction.  Using David Coffin's shirtmaking book, I'll enlarge his pattern for a sleeve placket and through some sewing origami turn it into a center front placket.  Easy, right?  Oy, what a mindbending exercise.  I laid the bib pattern piece on some graph paper, established a center line and sort of worked my way out from there.  I think I had to go back and revise it twice.  Victorian shirt #3 (if there ever is one) should be much easier as a result of this exercise.  

My fabric is a very finely woven cotton from Italy.  I cut the bib sections on the bias and I'm concerned that the vertical stripes of the shirt front will show through when the bib is layered over the front.  Then I'll have all kinds of crisscrossing stripes.  To minimize the transparency I've lined the bib sections with some very lightweight batiste.  I attached the batiste with a 1/2" seam, turned and pressed the bibs.  Problem solved.  

Here the lined bib sections are basted to the shirt front.  They butt over the center front.  The placket piece is attached to the inside of the shirt, the front center is slashed and the placket is pulled out to the front of the shirt.  This is where I panicked.  I was completely befuddled by what was inside, outside, right side, wrong side.  So.....

To play it safe I experimented with a fabric that had a clear right and wrong side.  Success, I have a placket that folds left over right.  

Here is the completed bib and placket.  Unfortunately the stripes of the placket didn't exactly line up with the stripes of the shirt.  I'm off by about 1/8".  Shucks.  On the plus side, this construction has eliminated the unflattering center box pleat that the original pattern has.  I think that trade-off is worth it.  

This, I believe, wraps up the most difficult part of this shirt.  The rest should go together easily.  Fingers crossed!  

Great stuff in the mailbox

You know it's going to be a great day when you find 11 yards of fabric crammed into your mailbox!  

Denver Fabrics was offering free shipping, so I figured it was a good time to pick up more shirting fabric.  I probably saved about $13.  Admittedly, DF doesn't have the greatest photos on their website, so I was holding my breath as I ripped open the package.

Yay!  No huge disappointments.  

So here's my haul.  From left to right.  First is a very fine cotton shirting in celery and white.  It has a wonderfully silky hand.  I'll use this first and re-make the Victorian shirt with a few more alterations.  

 

Next is a block printed cotton voile.  I had no idea what voile is, but I liked the print and the colors.  This turns out to be my least favorite of the batch.  The weave is quite coarse, like a cheap muslin.  I hope it softens up with a good pre-washing.  Still, I love the colors and think it will make a fun summer shirt.  

Next is an olive and red tartan.  This is a substantial fine twill weave.  Nothing flimsy about it and well worth $4.95 / yard.  

Lastly, a light teal and white oxford cloth.  This is a color that I look particularly good in.  I plan on making a basic button down from the pattern that I used last year for the MPB shirt sew-along.  

Oh, but there's more than just fabric in the mailbox!  This amazing shirt pattern is dated 1964 .  Thank you Sassy Cotton for finding this gem.  I'm planning on using the voile for this one.  I especially love the back view with the pleat and button detailing.  There is also a button tab on the short sleeve.  I just love this kind of detail, and it's what keeps me wanting to make my own clothes.  

OK.  Now dial the "way-back machine" forward to 1975.  This pattern is also from Sassy Cotton.  If you love vintage patterns I hope you will check out their Etsy shop.   My other recent source for great patterns is Wheeler Salvage.  Mary has a great selection of very stylish stuff.  I could (and DO) look at vintage patterns for hours!  

I really think this whole safari look is ready for a resurgence.  Do you?  Should there be a Summer Safari Sew-Along?  

Here is the celery stripe with my brocade vest.   My plan is to launch into a second version of the Victorian shirt.  This time I hope to simplify the construction of the front placket by making it just a larger version of the sleeve placket.  I guess time will tell if that works out.  If I have enough fabric I hope to place the bib on the bias.  

Lastly, I'm thinking the tartan would make a most excellent tuxedo shirt.   I'm not sure how the pleats work, but it could be very interesting.  

That's it for now.  It's nice to have projects in the pipeline again.  

New year -- New directions

It's a new year and time for some new projects.  But before I go any further I want to thank Sunni, of the blog -- A Fashionable Stitch, for featuring my pea coat on her blog.  I was totally blown away to learn this.  It's hard for me to believe that anyone is paying any attention to what I do!  For those of you who do, I hope it's informative and just a little bit inspiring.  

So, like most of you, I have some sewing goals for 2012.  As much as I enjoy making outerwear, it's time to expand my repertoire. This became evident when I dressed for a staff Christmas party with my department members.  Because I wear a uniform at work, my closet is primarily filled with casual clothes.  Plaid flannel shirt at a holiday party?  I don't think so.  In the end I wore a button down shirt, argyle sweater and wool flannel trousers.  Yawn.......  I'd much rather have been wearing something just a little bit more imaginative.  

A big sewing goal this year will be to make some slightly dressier additions to my extremely tired wardrobe.  

This is where I'll start.  The Victorian Shirt from Folkwear.  This is exactly the shirt that I wished I'd had for the Christmas party.  It's not totally crazy, has a dressy vibe and I'd be the only guy wearing anything like it.  That's my idea of dressing.  I'm going to be making it in a very dark purple cotton jacquard.  

Oh ETSY, How I love you!   I think every guy could use a tuxedo shirt.  I've always wanted one but never owned one.  In a way they're sort of laughable, but they somehow can traverse the spectrum from formal to casual.  This is a shirt that I could get a lot of mileage out of.  Hopefully all that pleating isn't totally impossible.  Speaking of impossible, there won't be any ruffled version of this shirt!  And, oh, what about that huge bow tie.  That's out too.  

Another Etsy find.  I wouldn't mind having a nice assortment of vests in my closet.  They don't take much fabric and they're fun to wear.  I often see really beautiful fabrics when I'm in NYC, but can't for the life of me figure out what I'd do with them.  Vests are the answer.  

Lastly, check this out.  Vogue designer no less.  I got this pattern primarily for the jacket.  I'm not a three piece suit type.  The jacket has a reasonable lapel width and a double back vent which I think would be interesting.  I rarely dress up, but I do go to a work related conference every October.  Each year I decide between  the two silk / wool tweed sport coats that I own.  This year I want this jacket in velvet.  

Lastly, some books have been added to my meagre collection.  I have never made a pair of trousers or jeans, so I got David Coffin's book.  I'm just hoping it's not as obsessive compulsive as his shirt book.  Don't get me wrong, I know it's a great book.  But it drives me crazy.  I also picked up a book on pattern drafting by Lori Knowles.  It's very straightforward and full of information.  One of my goals will be to draft both an upper and lower body sloper this year.  Why?  I'm hoping that it can make my projects more creative and less dependent on published patterns.  

It will be interesting to see how this year turns out!  Time to tackle the Victorian Shirt.