It Works!

The shirt has been finished, worn and is now resting in the hamper. Though the fabric is not feminine, my greater concern was the fit. It both fits and is comfortable. I look forward to sewing the next one using prettier fabric. But, hey Mary Nanna, at least it isn’t denim!

 

For this shirt, it didn’t make sense to bother with flat-felled seams if I wasn’t sure what my seam allowances were going to be. Nor did I bother to do a rolled hem. Instead, I serged the edge and folded it up. It looks fine…

I am happy with the sleeve cap adjustment. I have very little knowledge of sleeve cap theory, but I do know that this looks much better and I’m glad I made the effort to tweak the pattern.

I fired up the 403A for the buttonholes. However, prior to the buttonholes, I had to find buttons. There were some natural shell ones in the stash (I’m fairly certain they came from Fashion Sewing Supply). They are ever so slightly larger than I preferred, so I took myself to both Hancock’s and JoAnn’s. No surprise, but neither store had buttons that would work. They were too big, too small or not enough of them in the same size. I gave up, went home, and made buttonholes to fit the natural shell buttons.

Next time, I want to shorten the bust dart. Now, don’t get me wrong, this pattern, just as it is, fits better than anything I could hope to find in retail, but still I think there is room for improvement. I like the shaping the bust dart provides, but it really needs to be less obvious, if only a little. I think I can figure this out. Don’t you?

 

I haven’t had a chance to try out the Lands’ End sleep shirt pattern yet as I keep changing my mind about which fabric to use for the testing…