Sewing between chapters of The Count of Monte Cristo

Readers, my Christmas gift to myself this past year was an Amazon Kindle.  There are some features that could be improved, but I can honestly say that I totally love it.  For the past couple of weeks I've been reading the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo.  Hands down this is the most fun I've had reading since the whole Harry Potter series.  I was basically aware of the part about tunneling out of prison, but it's SO much more than that.  I can't recommend it enough.  Just beware, it will impact your sewing projects.  I've been working on Victorian shirt #2 between chapters.  "Ok, I'll pin on the collar and then I can read a chapter."  "Ok, I'll baste the collar and then read a chapter."  "Ok, after sewing the collar I'll read a chapter."  You get the picture.  

The sleeve plackets were a walk in the park after having dealt with the front bib and placket construction.  Because my shirting is very fine, I've decided to go with a full doubled back 

French cuff.  Of course this means searching for cufflinks!  These little guys came in the mail yesterday.  They're little green pearl buttons, although they don't photograph that way.  

Cute, vintage and cheap.  Only $3.99!  

I seem to be forever altering  this pattern.  The original pattern, shown at the top, has a one piece collar that folds over.  It's easy to make, but at the same time kind of unsubstantial.  I've decided I'd rather have a two piece collar with a seam at the top edge.  This should add some much needed body to the collar.  Below the original is my new collar pattern.  I lowered the front neckline when I increased my sloped shoulder adjustment.  As a result the collar needs to be 1/2" longer.  You can see where I cut and taped in little sections of paper.  At the bottom of the photo are my new collar pieces, one of which is interfaced. 

The neck edge is staystitched and clipped.  In addition to pinning on the collar, I also take the time to baste it below the staystitching.  This helps avoid any little gathers that will just have to be ripped out and re-sewn.  Oh, how I hate that!  

It's finally starting to look like a shirt.  Now I can go read a few more chapters!  :)

Things that have come in the mail

Sadly, there hasn't been much sewing going on here lately.  The victorian shirt is essentially complete, just waiting for buttons.  The selection at JoAnn's is pretty dismal, especially when one has been spoiled by the garment district in NYC where there are entire stores devoted to buttons.  Unfortunately, there aren't any trips to the city in my immediate future, so I've turned to Etsy in search of buttons.  I find Etsy totally addictive and have enjoyed / wasted hours looking over the most amazing stuff.   I started out looking for buttons and low and behold stumbled upon these beauties!  

Vintage tigereye and sterling cufflinks.  I've redesigned my shirt with a single French cuff and these will be perfect.  They are from Tigers and Bears of Boston, MA.  I love the combination of dark purple and brown.   During my button search I also found a pair of vintage baltic amber cufflinks which were too reasonable to pass up.  They're coming from Moscow (not to be confused with Moscow, Maine), so I'm not anticipating them anytime soon.  I think the amber will look equally as smashing with the purple.  

Even though a certain blogger that we all know and love is predicting this to be the year of dusty rose and teal, I'm dreaming of all things purple, brown, bronze and amber.  Thanks to Etsy I found some great little amber buttons that should arrive later this week.  Then I'll be able to wrap this project up.  

Of course there's more to Etsy than buttons and cufflinks! 

OMG! This was love at first sight.  A Vintage 1968 Nehru jacket and shirt.  The pattern is still in its original folds.  How sad that no one ever made it.  I hope to remedy that situation sometime this year.  This will provide a real learning opportunity for me since it's two sizes too big for me.  I will have to learn how to grade the pattern down.  I'm looking forward to the challenge.  A huge thank you to Wheeler Salvage for finding this gem.  

Just waiting for the buttons to arrive.  Then I'll be ready for the cocktail party!