Remember when I cut out 6 shirts for my husband before heading to a sewing retreat in March? What in the heck was I thinking?!?!?! This week I decided to get in gear and finish up the 2 that I started while at retreat (yes, including the one I put one sleeve in WRONG 3 different ways!).
Men’s dress shirts are a lot of work. People always ask me how many hours it takes to make one, and honestly, I try not to calculate that figure. A lot. More than 5, less than 10 if I don’t screw up too much. 🙂 Shirt-making is fiddly. There is lots of pressing throughout the process. Lots of topstitching. Lots of buttonholes. Lots of buttons to sew on.
There is also a lot of satisfaction from making a “technical” garment that fits my husband perfectly, looks as good or better than any RTW from Nordstrom’s, and he is super proud to wear. The process appeals to my left brain, so I keep making them.
This one is a lovely, slightly textured pale blue shirt with a tiny white diamond pattern and a very narrow, brown vertical stripe. Quite dressy for a techie head who sits in his office much of the day crunching numbers and data!ÂÂ
The fabric for this one has a lot more body – it is very crisp. It is also the “3 wronged sleeve” shirt. ;-(
I LOVE the David Page Coffin method for making sleeve plackets. I know some people complain they are too much work – but I love the way they turn out and I don’t find them hard to do at all.
Look at those buttonholes on the shirt collar – nice! I changed my collar pattern so that the under collar is “cut on” to the upper collar. I will do a tutorial about this sometime to explain the whole process, but it results in no seam at the front edge of the collar, and therefore much less bulk in the collar points. Hence, the ability to get REALLY close to the point to make a tiny buttonhole for DH’s buttondown collar.
Only 4 more to go! Happy sewing!
Maris Olsen