Finished -- The Spring-y buttondown

So here is the finished oxford cloth buttondown.  There's really not much to say.  I see so many creative projects out there from incredibly talented sewists.  This is just a man's shirt (yawn).  It doesn't get much more basic.  Still, this is a shirt that I could easily wear to my Mom's for Easter dinner and feel totally good about.  There's definitely a case to be made for purely utilitarian sewing.  There aren't too many places I couldn't wear this shirt.  That's a fashion win for me. 

I could have done a better job tucking in the back, but in reality this is what men's shirts do.  I've tweaked this pattern enough so that there's the right amount of slouchy room for me.  

Here it is with a tie.  My mom would approve!  I don't think she's too sure about the desert boots though.  

Speaking of deserts.......this is my latest obsession, a 1970's safari suit.  If any of you are also thinking safari please let me know.  It would be such fun to have some sort of shared safari sewing group.  More next time.  

Happy sewing! 

The spring-y buttondown -- stripe engineering

Things are progressing nicely on the spring-y shirt.  Cutting out the various pieces takes some thought and a fair amount of care, especially when working with stripes.  It took me awhile to wrap my head around the whole front placket matching, so hopefully this post can help some of you who may be contemplating a striped shirt.  

Here goes....

To make the stripes evenly spaced across the front of the shirt a dominant stripe of the fabric is "stacked" on three parts of the shirt (the placket, right and left fronts).  All three pattern pieces must be cut out separately.  

Start with the placket.  The dominant stripe of the fabric is placed along the centerline as shown above. 

Eventually the buttonholes will be placed down the center stripe.  

On the RIGHT side of the shirt the buttons will be placed on the dominant stripe that was chosen for the placket.  That way when the shirt is buttoned the center stripe of the placket is directly over the identical stripe on the right shirt front.  The button line is quite clearly marked on the pattern above.  

After folding and top stitching the right front, the buttons end up centered on the dominant stripe. 

The LEFT side of the shirt may require more thought.  Remember the goal is to get the dominant stripe of the placket "stacked" directly over the same stripe on the Left front.  

On my shirt the placket is attached to the L front with a 3/8" seam.  The placket is 1.5 " wide, therefore the center of the finished placket is 3/4" in from the edge.  

The dominant stripe is placed 1 1/8" ( 3/8" + 3/4") from the front edge of the Left front pattern piece as shown above.  

Now the stripes will march uninterrupted across the front of the shirt.  Yay! 

Sadly, it can't all be matching nirvana. 

I can't wrap my head around matching the sleeve plackets, so I deliberately placed them on the cross grain.  They would also be attractive placed on the bias.  Maybe next time! 

Here's the back box pleat with its centered stripe.   When it comes to shirts, it's all about the little details.  They can be fun or they can make me want to scream.  This is my third version of this shirt and I learn something each time.  Mostly, I try to make things as easy as possible for myself.  I  concentrate most of my efforts in cutting out the pieces.  For example I set the stripe of the back yoke well in from the seam.  This helps preserve the effect that it's sewn straight (which it probably isn't!)  If a stripe had ended up on the seam, all my cutting and sewing imperfections would be magnified.   I also did the same thing with the collar and cuffs.  


I hope this has been helpful.  Next time I'll show the finished product.  

A sure sign of Spring!

Forget robins and bulbs poking up out of the ground.  Here's the surest sign of Spring anywhere!  

These guys hatched the day after Valentine's Day. 

I have to admit that I totally love all the pastel candy colors that emerge this time of year.  It's interesting that what could be considered the most feminine of colors, play such a huge part in most men's wardrobes.  I grew up wearing pastel oxford cloth buttondowns, and I still think of them as the quintessential man's shirt.  They just have so much going for them.  The fabric is substantial and durable.  They're appropriate for just about any occasion.  They look good with or without a tie.  They can be pressed or wrinkled.  The fit tends to be baggy and comfortable.  

So all of this leads me into my next shirt project.... The Springy Buttondown. 

The fabric is a dusty teal oxford cloth that I picked up from Denver Fabrics .  They feature a lot of cotton shirting, but this was the only oxford cloth on the site.   As luck has it, it's a color that looks particularly good on me.  

I'll be using a vintage Butterick pattern that I believe dates from the early 60's.  I used this pattern for Peter's MPB shirt sew-along last year, so this will be my third version of it.  Truthfully,  I've altered it so much that it really has very little of the original left.  Every time I make it, I feel the need to give it a little tweak.  Someday I'll get it just right. 

This time around I've decided to revamp the collar stand.  This has always been a source of frustration with this pattern.  The curve at the end of the stand is near impossible to sew.  I pin the stand on, matching the notches, but when I get to the neck opening it's a "What the F.. now" moment.  Consequently it's always a mess.   It's just not working for me.  So here's my attempt at a fix.  I've flattened out the curve trying to keep the overall length the same.  It will either work or not.  Right? 

And while I'm making changes I measured the neck opening and decided that the stand and collar could be a scant 1/2" larger.  When I made a pretty drastic sloped shoulder adjustment to this pattern I needed to drop the front neck opening.  This added some length to the neck opening.  Again, this will either work or not.  I really want to avoid fighting to get a too small collar stretched into a too large neck opening.  




I'm going to go eat a few Peeps, and then get this shirt cut out.  

McCall's 7590, AKA the Cocoa Beach Shirt

From 1964 comes the Cocoa Beach Shirt!  Yay!  

This shirt was so much fun to make and I'm totally in love with its retro vibe.  The fabric is a cotton voile from Denver Fabrics and the print seems made for this style.  

Of course the look is never complete without the pipe!  

The back view.  Pleats extend from the yoke to the hem.  There is a button detail at the hem which adds interest.  

The pattern matched up nicely at the front.  I love when that happens!  

Here's a close up of the pick stitch detailing on the collar and shirt front.  I know that this is going to be my "go to" shirt for the summer.  I'm looking forward to making 2 or 3 more!  

Victorian shirt #2 -- Afternoon tea

Welcome!  Today we're having tea.  I'm pulling out the tartan English bone china and wearing Victorian shirt #2 for the occasion.  

This is my own revised version of Folkwear # 202.  The bib sections have been cut on the bias and the placket has been redesigned to simplify construction.  The new placket also eliminates the center front box pleat of the original design.  

The fabric is a celery green and white stripe Italian cotton shirting from Denver Fabrics.  It was wonderfully easy to work with. 

The fabric is very finely woven so I made this version with a doubled back French cuff.  The buttons on the placket are white genuine shell that I found at the flea market.  The cufflinks are vintage pearlized green button links that I found on Ebay.  The steampunk brooch is gift from my daughter.  

It all goes wonderfully with my brocade vest.  I now have two versions of this shirt, and feel prepared to face any special occasion with style! 

The Cocoa Beach shirt...... some details

It was a rainy day here in Maine, a good day to work on the Cocoa Beach shirt.  This is a shirt that I would make again in a heartbeat.  I keep fantasizing about all the $2 / yard seersucker that was in one of the fabric dives in NYC last year.  I'm hoping to get back there next month, and hope some of that stuff is still around.  I'm willing to put up with the incense and newspapers spread all over the floor.  

Here are some details of the sleeve tabs on McCall's 7590. 

The tab is basted to the outside of the sleeve along the edge where the hem is turned up.  It will eventually point forward, but at this stage it point towards the back.  

The hem is turned up to the outside of the sleeve so that the right sides of the fabric are together.  I had originally tailor tacked the stitching lines and for once they stayed in.  Here I've chalk marked the stitching lines.  

Stitch along the lines catching the tab.  Then slash up through the middle of the triangle up to the point.  

Turn right side out and....   voila!   tres retro! 

This is the back pleat detail.  I made a non functional buttonhole and sewed the button over it.  

The pattern calls for topstitching all around the shirt fronts and collar.  Um,  anyone who has followed this blog knows I'm not a big fan.  I think it would be more interesting, and more in keeping with the retro vibe, to have a handstitched detail.  Using two strands of embroidery floss I'm doing an enlarge pick stitch.  I've placed masking tape 1/4" in from the edge to help me stay on track.  This is so much fun to do, and silly as it may sound it really makes this MY shirt.  

Here's the whole collar taped and ready to be stitched.  Next week I hope to show the completed shirt.  

If anyone's interested, the fabric I've used is currently on sale at Denver Fabrics for $4 / yard.  It comes in several different color ways and is 60" wide.  It's been easy to work with, hasn't frayed like crazy and has a crisp finish almost like linen.  I imagine it will wrinkle like a linen shirt.  Enter " voile" in the search and you should find it.  

Another day at Cocoa Beach

Work is progressing smoothly on the Cocoa Beach shirt.  I supposed it's true of all sewing, but the more shirts one makes the easier it gets.  I just sort of blow right through things that used to leave me either scratching my head trying to figure out, or just plain paralyzed with fear.  I did spend a considerable amount of time cutting out the fabric.  If all goes well the pattern should match at the front.  

This is a pretty basic shirt with a yoke.  On a plaid, or a blocky print like I'm using, it's easiest to cut the yoke on the bias.  This eliminates the whole matching issue on the back.  I'm also skipping the patch pockets which I think would detract from the overall look.  

All the seams are flat felled.  Because I don't have a felling foot, I make the seam on the inside of the garment.  After the seam allowance is pressed over I like to baste it in place.  I then turn the shirt right side out and topstitch 1/4 from the seam using my presser foot as a guide.  The basting holds everything in place and I don't end up with any bunching up of the seam.  

I had to do a little pattern making today.  This shirt carries a 2.5" hem.  If I had kept the bottom edge of the shirt straight it would have been very simple.  But because I curved the fronts I was worried that the hem would be a big mess.  So I decided to make shaped facings for the lower edge of the shirt.  My Swedish tracing paper made this very easy to do.  Here I've just placed a scrap over the front pattern piece and with my hip rule I've duplicated the curve.  There will be some extra bulk at the lower edge but the inside of the shirt should be neater.  That's a trade-off I'm willing to make.  

So here's one of the new facings. The left and right fronts are different sizes so they require their own facings.  I also write instructions to myself on them, namely which side has to be up when cutting.  I was really short on fabric and had to scrounge for scraps.  Thankfully, the facings don't have to match anything.  

Here is the whole shirt ready to have the collar and facings attached.  I pinned and then basted (of course) everything together.  The entire perimeter of the shirt was stitched and then all the seams were trimmed.  This is a good place to stop for today.