Tim's Birthday shirt 2015

It's been a couple months between posts. I haven't been sewing much and when I have been sewing I haven't felt like blogging. I've really enjoyed a break for Instagram, blog reading and my sewing-related social networking. But, with the weather warming up, I'm getting ready for some spring/summer sewing. In the meantime, some catch up posts with average (at best!) photos.

In August last year I made my first men's shirt for Tim's birthday; a Colette Patterns Negroni shirt. I made him another for his birthday this year, which marked the fifth shirt made in the last 12 months. All of his shirts are in high rotation and I love rushing out of the house each work morning realising we're both wearing clothes I've made us.

I bought this blue and white small gingham cotton shirting from Tessuti earlier in the year. I love the italian cotton shirting Tessuti have been stocking and look forward to buying more when they receive more stock. The fabric is soft with a slight sheen and it presses really well. For the contrasting sleeve plackets, under collar, and inner collar band I used salvageable fabric from one of Tim's worn out shirts. I also reused all the buttons of the old shirt.

Why yes, that is my finger at the bottom of the photo...

I was hoping to make a long sleeved version of the Simplicity 1544 I'd made Tim this summer, which has a nice traditional collar and button placket. However, Tim prefers the fit through the body of the Negroni shirt, which means I have to stick with my Negroni Archer Shirt pattern mash up to get all the shirt features his likes. For details on mash up process see my previous posts: 1, 2.

Before I attached the buttons

I didn't do anything differently this time around. I double interfaced the collar to make it extra crisp. I overlocked the edges and sewed the S/A to one side to create faux flat fell seams. for some reason this verson seems a little tighter around Tims under arms, but it doesn't bother him.  The one main difference with this shirt is the amazing fabric which, I think, makes it look much more professional.

Tim loves his new shirt and wore it the day of his birthday. We started the day off well, filling our bellies with with nutella french brioche before heading off to work. Delicious! 

Grainline Studio Cascade Duffle Coat

I love winter coats. I have four that I wear regularly (including my Jackie Coat), but my favourite is a threadbare black hip-length hooded duffle coat with two missing toggles. My mum bought it for me over 8 years ago and it's been a staple ever since. It's some sort of magic coat that goes with every outfit and some how fitted me perfectly across three different dress sizes during this time. I desperately needed a new perfect coat.

Enter the Grainline Studio Cascade Duffle Coat pattern, which I bought from Indie Stitches. View A is an almost perfect replica of my favorite coat except that it needed View B's hood.  I cut size 6, grading out the to 8 from the waist down. It took for freakin' ever to trace and cut out all 27 pieces required. There were a few pieces that I didn't trace because they weren't multi-size or could be folded.

It took some time to gather all the material. I used leftover black wool felting from my Jackie coat, and bought some gorgeous grey speckled wool from the cloth shop for the contrast. I couldn't find any premade toggles I liked so I purchased these from M Retch. The delivery was super quick, but I'd prefer a courier service that drops the product to the local post office if the recipient isn't home rather than having to reorganise a time with the courier for pick up. Searching for the leather was frustrating. I couldn't find any soft textured black leather in my local fabric stores. I hunted for leather handbags in opshops but didn't find anything quite right. In the end my sister gave me some scrap leather used to cover their kitchen chairs with - it was perfect.

I wanted the coat to be quite warm and thick so I interlined the bodice pieces with leftover PJ flanelette (pea pods and wolves). I did this by tracing the whole bodice pieces, without the yoke/bodice seam allowances, basting the main and interlining fabric together and treating them as one.

This Jacket was a labour of love. Every time it seemed close to being done I'd be shocked to see how many more steps there was in the instructions. Thankfully the instructions were really well written. The process of the sewing and attaching the lining can be a little confusing but a quick glance at the sewalong was all that was needed to confirm what you are doing.

My only complaints about the coat are the size of the pockets (not a big deal, but I'd make them smaller next time) and that the hood and hem lining wants to pull down and sit strangely. Because there is excess ease in the lining (to allow for movement) the hem facing and hood facing have the tendency to fall out of place (even after a good press). I fixed this by tacking the facings down. I simply stitched in the ditch of the side seam (hem) and centre seams (hood).

I love the style and fit of the coat. It definitely fills the hole of my old perfect coat. It is on the short side, but I'm short torsoed so it doesn't both me. I find the sleeves slightly too firm given the number of layers I'll be wearing under the coat, but hopefully the interlining will mean less layers. Overall, I'm incredibly happy with how my Cascade Duffle Coat turned out and I've promptly filled the (massive) pockets with tissues and spare gloves.  

Another Shirt For Tim: Negroni Archer Hack #2

Another shirt for Tim. I cut this one out ages ago after seeing a man on a tram wearing a similar black and white gingham contrast shirt.

I again used my hacked Negroni Archer pattern pieces. See this post for more details on that. I made one further mod by taking out a further 1/2"of fabric from the width of each sleeve and the fit is better in this shirt than the previous versions.

I made a few mistakes at the time of cutting out. I some how cut the front bodice pieces with a thinner centre front. To solve this issue I used tiny seam allowances and cut slightly wider button plackets. Thankfully, it doesnt seem to have affected the fit. 

When attaching the collar I found that the collar stand was a good half an inch larger than it should have been. I had absolutely no spare fabric so I eased those collar stands in like crazy. You can't really tell from the outside but the centre back inside is a mess! By this time I considered binning the shirt but Tim convinced me that some of his RTW shirts have wrinkly collar stands from excess fabric and that it really didn't look that bad.

I used the contrasting fabric for the back yoke, inner collar stand, button placket, cuff placket and cuff facings. Because this shirt was looking to be on the dodgy side I simply faux felled the seams by sewing the seam allowance, overlocking the edges and top stitching them to one side at the side and sleeve seams.  I don't regret this, it still looks nice inside and out. 

The final shirt fit great and you can't see any of my terrible mistakes. The fabric contrast is really fun but still professional enough for work.

The Negroni bodice really fits Tim very well but I'm keen to try other shirt patterns that don't require as much hacking to get the look he's after. Next up is a Simplicity 1544 with short sleeves. I've even gone to the effort of making a muslin. I have some gorgeous Tessuti shirting I'm going to use for the real thing and after that I might take a little break from men's shirt making.

Christmas Liberty Alder Shirtdress

I wanted to make a dress especially for Christmas day but I don't think that's going to happen with all the present sewing I still have ahead of me. Instead I think I'll wear this newly made Liberty Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress. The colourway is pretty perfect for Christmas and I'll certainly be comfortable.

 

I bought the Eleonora Pink Red Liberty from Tessuti a few months back and immediately cut out a version B size 8 Alder Shirtdress. The pattern pieces then sat in a pile in my sewing room for some weeks. I think I was all buttoned out after making my three previous alder shirtdresses, alder shirts, and Tim's shirt.

There isn't much to say about making this dress that hasn't been said previously. The instructions are excellent and the dress is particularly simple to make if you already have shirt making experience. If not easier to make than a shirt as you don't have to worry about setting in sleeves and attaching cuffs.

The Liberty was amazing to sew with and press. It also feels great to wear and breaths well in the heat. I used self fabric bias binding as I've recently found that the pre-purchased binding often doesn't wear as well and the short time it takes to make it is well worth the effort. The buttons are tan coloured with black stripes coming from the centre.

I love this pattern and I know I'll get heaps of wear from the four I've made up all summer long, add tights and they're winter appropriate too.

 

So unless I'm feeling particularly ambitious Christmas eve this will be my Christmas day dress. Anyone else thinking they might squeeze in last minute hand-made Christmas dress?

Negroni 2: A Pattern Hack

Last month I made Tim a muslin Colette Patterns Negroni Shirt for his birthday with the promise of making more in the future. He wears his shirt to work regularly but had a few suggestions for improvements. Tim requested: slimmer cut sleeves; a traditional button band and placket rather than shirt front facings; a stiffer collar with a collar stand.

I could have tried a different pattern, but they often lacked other must haves (e.g. back yoke, contrasting cuff placket, slim fit). So, in attempts to get the best of all worlds I spliced together the Negroni Pattern with my beloved Archer shirt pattern (made here and here). On comparing the sizing of the Tim's store bought shirts with my Archers I found that the width of the collar and collar stand was pretty much the same, but the length of the collar/stand/neckline would need to be increased. Same goes for the button plackets. 

Note: Peter has done some tutorials on adapting the Negroni pattern for a traditional placket and collar, but of course I didn't realise until after making the shirt.
So, here what I did:
- Photo copied Archer collar and stand patterns. Added about 1/2" to each piece at the fold/centre line. Thus providing 1" more neck room.
- The Archer pattern has 1/2" seams allowances, Negroni has 5/8". Before attaching the collar stand I trimmed down the Negroni neckline by 1/8".
- I interfaced both sides of the collar and collar stand for a stiffer collar. Although I really need to buy some shirt crisp interfacing.
- I compared the Negroni shirt front to the archer shirt front. If you line up the button placement line on either pattern it's easy to see where you should add width for the right side (where the button placket is folded over) and remove width for the left side ( where you attach the button placket). It's important to consider: 1) women's shirts button up the opposite way to men's; 2) remember to use 1/2" seams allowances or add 1/8"to the right side of the shirt and the contrasting button placket; 3) add length to the button placket pieces as the shirt is much longer than the archer pattern.
- Trimmed down sleeves by 1/2". I cut and overlapped the pattern by 1/4" in two places on each sleeve. I also decreased the width of the cuffs pleat to allow for this.

The changes worked out even better than I expected (it was a gamble cutting straight into the 'good' fabirc). I particularly prefer the crispness of the button placket on this version compared to the Negroni pattern. Next time I will take more width out of the sleeves as they are still baggy. Luckily this is a casual shirt, so Tim will wear it most often with the sleeves rolled up anyway. I'd also shorten the shirt slightly. Unfortunately I didn't notice on the first version as it's always tucked into work pants.

I made Tim's shirt out of two gorgeous linens from Tessuti. The check is Heart On Sleeve and the solid is Indigo flip (I think). The fabric was amazing to sew with and I was pleased with my pattern matching efforts on the side seams and centre front. Sadly, I only have a small amount of the check left so I wont be able to make a matching top for myself. 

Alder Shirt's (Not A Dress)

My Alder Shirt Dresses (1, 2, 3) fit so much better around my shoulders/arms than my sleeveless Archer, even with mods. Thus, I decided to try making a shirt version of the Alder Shirt dress.  I ended up making two and I can see myself making more when the warmer weather arrives.

 

To make the dress (version A) into a shirt I simply took my Archer shirt pattern pieces compared them to the dress and drew on the shirt curve. I also folded up the button band and interfacing pieces to the length used in the archer pattern. Jen is planning a sew-along tutorial for making Alder into a shirt and I'm sure she'll have a fancier way of doing it, but for now this worked perfectly. These shirts are both made in a size 8.

 

For my first shirt I used a soft black cotton voile with a wide checked weave. It will be a lovely light option in summer. I used some cream buttons with little pink flowers on them. I have one big regret with this shirt: I used white interfacing with black voile. You can see the white through the fabric on the collar and button placket. Consider it a lesson learnt! Going out to buy some black interfacing asap.

 

For my second version of the shirt I decided to try out a pop-over button placket as a practice for my 3rd Alder dress. This placket is about 2" shorter than the one I ended up using on my Navy Alder dress. I used a stiffer cotton with a white and red flower motif that I've had for ages. For the insides (under collar, inner stand, yoke) I used a plain white cotton poplin.

I'm not totally convinced about this fabric, it's only OK. I wore it tucked into jeans and was relatively happy. I definitely want to try out the popover shirt version in a light blue chambray which I'm sure I'd wear heaps in summer.

 

The Alder Shirt (not dress) VS The Archer Shirt: Alder is narrowrwer through the shoulder and bust, meaning there is less arm hole gape. The Archer is narrower through the front waist and hips where as Alder has more of an A-line shape. The bottom button on my Archer shirt is a snug fit while on the Alder shirt there is plenty of room for belly, hips and bum.

 

I'm currently sewing something that isn't an Alder shirt or dress! In fact it's not even a Gainline Studio pattern. But I will definitely be revisiting the Alder pattern again and again.

Alder Shirtdress The Third: Popover Variation

I love the Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress. This is my third Alder dress (see 1,2), I have two Alder shirts to be blogged and I see more variations in my future. I'm sick about Alder! This particular version is another Version A (a line) but with a hacked front button placket to make it a popover /pull over. 

I cut a size 8 again after my size 6 pulled across the chest. However, I had a lot of excess room in the sides and you could see down my dress through the arm holes to I brought in the side seams by 1/4". So I guess I am somewhere between a 6 and an 8 with some clever button placement needed across my chest. 

To make the dress a popover I:

1. Folded out the centre front button placket fabric (fold at the second set of notches) and cut the front piece on a fold.

2. Created a pattern piece for the button placket. I did this by using the cuff placket piece from Tim's Negroni Shirt and simply lengthened the piece so that the placket would be around 11" (chosen arbitrarily). I also widened the under placket component so that it would be 1"wide rather than 1/2".

3. Sewed on the button placket piece as instructed in the Negroni pattern and then made up the rest of the pattern per the Alder Shirtdress instructions. 

4. Ta da! Wear dress. 

My fabric is a navy rayon cotton blend with some silver metallic thread through it. The metallic isn't very noticeable but gives the fabric a nice sheen. Going with the theme, my buttons have silver sparkles in them. I used the left over cotton lawn from my latest emery for the under collar & stand as well as the inner yoke and arm hole binding.

This fabric is crazy wrinkly. These photos are taken straight after ironing the fabric - it did nothing! I guess I need to get used to the wrinkly look.

  

I really love this Alder! It was fun trying something different with the popover variation and it's nice to know that I could do something similar with other dresses and tops now. I have just one more must-make Alder shirt dress in my mind before I can give the pattern a rest for a while. Although, I'm sure with the sew-along starting I'll need to try some of the variations Jen plans on sewing up.

Alder Shirtdress #2

In case you couldn't tell from my earlier post, I'm kind of in love with the Alder Shirtdress. For my wearable muslin I made a size 6 version A (A-line variation). Next up, it was time to try version B (the butt gathers variation).

My wearable muslin pulled across my chest but fit great elsewhere. I checked out Jen's sample dress' and noticed that her versions were quite a bit looser than mine so I decided to size up all over. This meant printing out another version of the PDF which is pretty darn huge. ugh!

For this version I cut a size 8 all over and made no changes to the pattern. I used some lovely blue chambray with white polkadots that I bought at The Cloth Shop. The fabric drapes well but still has some structure and weight so it works well for the boxy shape. The polka dots must be bleached onto the fabric as every time I pressed the fabric I could smell chlorine. Oddly, I found this quite comforting on a cold day. It reminded be of summer days at the pool - quite the contrast from the current Melbourne weather.

This version came together in a around half a day. The sewing process is almost identical to Version A, except for creating the gathered butt/side skirt panel and sewing it in to the main dress. I intended to French seam the whole dress but wasn't sure how to insert the gathered skirt component with French seam. For this part of construction you have to piece the skirt panel in to a square corner of the dress. This requires a little fiddling and also cutting into the dress. The panel went in fine but I have no idea how you would go about French seaming it. Also a note to future self, first sew around the corner of the dress to reinforce it before attaching the skirt panel and cutting in to the fabric.

I used white thread for this dress and the same brown foe wood buttons I used for my First alder shirtdress. I omitted the chest pockets on this version as I thought the dress was busy enough. Once again I regret not adding in-seam pockets - next time I will definitely add them!

The fit of this dress is relatively loose. I normally wear things with a very defined waist which this dress definitely doesn't have, but still has some nice waist shape with the added hip/butt ruffles. The fit is better across my chest in this version, if anything there is excess room. I think version B of the alder, loose and gathered, will be perfect in the spring/summer months. It's more interesting than a sack dress but is similarly loose and flowy. I think my A-line version looked better layered up and belted for winter wear than this version.

I'm definitely keen to make a few more versions of the alder shirtdress. I'm thinking another VA, this time in a size 8 and then some alder shirtdress hacks, starting with a pull over version with a button placket ending just under my bust.

Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress - Wearable Muslin

I snapped up the much anticipated Alder Shirtdress immediately! I normally like to read about others experiences with patterns before purchasing but I'd so been looking forward to its release and I love Grainline Studio Patterns. Thus, I couldn't help myself.

I was immediately more attracted to version B with the gathered skirt details. When I've bought straight or A-line shirt dresses in the past I've often had too much bust room and not enough butt room. However I thought Version A would provide a better idea of the overall fit for my first attempt/wearable muslin. I made up this dress in some lovely pink/maroon chambray I bought at Clear It. I have some polka dot chambray put aside for my next gathered version. 

I made a size 6 which fitted my measurements and is also the size of my Archer shirts (1, 2). I made the shirt as per the instructions only deviating at the yoke insertion and sewing the front to the back where I prefer to use the burrito method. I also french seamed my side seams so there are no raw edges within. The sewing process is almost identical  to the Archer Shirt so if you've made the archer before you really shouldn't have any problems with the Alder Shirt Dress.

I  never had any worries about the upper body fitting me so it came as quite a surprise that I could only just button up the dress over my chest area and I prefer the look /fit with it left undone for this reason. This really surprised me because both my Archers shirts fit so well. I ended up unpicking the french seamed side seams and re-sewing as 1/4" which made the total side seam allowance 3/8"rather than 1/2" but I still feel more room is needed for my next version. The back doesn't look too bad just some slight strain at my under arms. The dress fits well though my lower body so next time I'm just going to trace/cut my fabric slightly wider at the chest area.

I've two possible explanations for the different fit compared to my Archers: 1) the dress is meant to be more fitted in the chest area (hence bust darts and no back pleat at the centre back. 2) I noticed when I was folding over the left button placket that the button placement I chalked on was totally wrong and ended up laying on the fold. It's possible that  I folded the placket wrong which left me with approx 1/2" less at the centre front than would be expected. This would be strange though as the construction is the same as the Archer Shirt and I've never had this problem before. I'm puzzled! If anyone else has had a similar experience or knows what I did wrong please comment!

I sewed up the dress in A navy thread which I think gives the dress some interest (it's especially interesting spotting all my terrible top stitching ;) ) and added some lovely foe wood plastic buttons. As this version of the dress is quite plain I thought it looked nice belted. I wore it out to a movie over my black merino renfree and under my Wool Drapped Coat. It's the perfect length for my drapped coat! Hooray for me-made outfits! 

Overall I love this dress (fitting issues and all) and I cant wait to make more. I can see a whole lot of Alder Shirtdresses and, variations of, for my 2014 summer uniform. My only other suggestion for my future makes is to add in-seam pockets.