Country Blue Houndstooth Fairfield Button-Up Shirt

My son received my second version of the Thread Theory Fairfield Button Up Shirt in the mail yesterday, (you can see my first version here), and he graciously sent me photos so I could see how it fitted.

For this version I went up a size as the first version was a little snug, (luckily still wearable, as it was made in a stretch poplin). I cut a size Medium grading down to a small below the chest. He is quite slim, but has very broad shoulders. I also lengthened the sleeves by 2.5 cm (1 inch) and lowered the button/buttonhole placement by approximately 1.25cm (1/2 inch).

The fabric is called Country Blue Houndstooth shirting from The Remnant Warehouse. It is a poly cotton blend which pressed well but tended to pucker a little when sewing which was a little annoying and made it difficult to get a great finish. I don't know why I don't learn as I had a similar, but worse experience with a polycotton gingham way back in 2014 (by the way, that shirt has had a lot of wear, and is still a favourite in my wardrobe).

I did remember to take a few photos of the shirt before posting it, so here are a few closer shots of the details.

After discussing the fit with him over the phone, the only other change I would make for the next one is to raise the pocket placement by a couple of centimetres, as he felt it was a little low. I'm so glad it fitted well and the changes I made were an improvement on my first version. Now I should be able to make future versions knowing that they will fit without worry.

He was probably way out of his comfort zone asking a fellow student to take these photos for me, hence the absence of a smile, but I am forever grateful.

Now back to some selfish sewing...a dress for me.

Happy Sewing

Jean

Thread Theory Designs: Fairfield Button-Up

My two youngest offspring.

My youngest son returned to Medical School yesterday, to begin his second year of study. He will be based at Shepparton Hospital in Victoria, this year, and will be required to wear doctor appropriate clothing, five days a week. I have been promising to sew him a shirt for ages, so I finally thought I had better make good on that promise, especially now that he has a genuine need for decent button-up shirts.

Thread Theory Designs Fairfield Button-Up

The pattern I used was the Thread Theory Design Fairfield Button-Up shirt. I ordered the printed pattern through Pattern Review and was amazed at how quickly it was delivered to me in regional NSW Australia. It comes packaged in a lovely cardboard sleeve. Inside is the multi sized pattern printed on tissue paper. There are pattern pieces for average figures, as well as fuller figures, and also a comprehensive and well illustrated instruction booklet. I also found the online Sew-a-long very helpful.

Thread Theory Design Fairfield Button-Up

I cut a size small, grading down to an extra small for the waist and hips, based on my son's measurements. I also cut a medium length in the body and the arms. My son wanted a fairly slim fitting shirt and that is certainly what he got.

Luckily I used a super stretch cotton poplin from The Remnant Warehouse which has quite a bit of stretch, as the shirt is a little too narrow across the shoulders. As the fabric stretches, it is wearable, but I will size up for the next one. If I had made this in a non stretch fabric, it would have been too uncomfortable to wear.

I didn't make any design changes to the shirt and sewed it up exactly as instructed. The front button band is not a separate piece, which reduces bulk and I really like how it turned out. Not sure if I love the pocket design, but it turned out ok. Apparently Thread Theory Designs offer some alternative pocket designs that can be downloaded for free. I will have to look into this for the next one.

The pattern includes all the usual features of a typical men's shirt including tower plackets. I have had terrible trouble in the past with fusible interfacings that bubble, so I decided to use a sew in interfacing for this shirt, and had much better results. I interfaced the sleeve plackets too as I was concerned that the stretch fabric might be too easily distorted when sewing these. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I skipped adding the extra button half way along the placket, as this shirt will most probably be worn with the sleeves rolled up most of the time.

Sleeve tabs are also included in the pattern. This is a handy feature as I just said: the sleeves will be rolled up most of the time. The sleeve length was a little short, despite cutting the medium length, so I will lengthen the sleeves a couple of centimetres for the next one.

The pattern was unusual in that the pattern pieces were cut already graded for the flatfelled seams. This took a bit for me to get my head around, as I am used to trimming the seam after sewing to prepare for the flat felling. Once I worked out how to line up the pattern pieces this method worked quite well.

This shot shows the slim fit of the shirt. I really liked this pattern and will be sure to use it again. These photos were taken in a rush as he was about to leave for the seven hour drive. I didn't have time to wash out all the pink pencil marks on the shirt so I hope he copes ok with that. I gave him a quick ironing lesson the other night, as he will have quite a bit of ironing to do this year. Nice to know that although he is much smarter than me, I can still teach him something.

Happy sewing

Jean

The Christmas Shirt (aka McCalls 6044 take 2)

I made my dear partner another shirt, this one for Christmas. I used McCalls 6044 as previously blogged about in The Birthday Shirt. I used all the previous alterations to the pattern, but in addition to those I also lengthened the sleeves by 6cm.

Sleeves actually fit those long arms this time.

This is a lovely soft 100% cotton shirting purchased from Spotlight. I actually used the wrong side of the fabric as the right side because the blue lines were a little more subtle and just looked better.

Front

Back

Pockets and Pearl Snaps

I cut the pockets on the bias to add some visual interest. This made them a little tricky to sew. I had to be very careful not to stretch the fabric and distort the pocket shape. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. 

Back yoke also cut on the bias.

All the seams have been flat felled. I love this technique in a man's shirt. It's really not that hard to do and results in such a lovely neat finish, inside and out.

Tower Placket

As in The Birthday Shirt I replaced the continuous placket with a tower placket, but I lengthened this one to make rolling the sleeves up a little easier. I cut the tower placket on the bias and to avoid distorting the fabric, I fused a very lightweight interfacing to it. This worked beautifully and I was very pleased with the result. It hardly added any stiffness to the placket so it hasn't effected function at all.

Close up of shirt details

Instead of buttons, I used pearl snaps (press studs), a request from my partner. These came from snapsource.com and I applied them with my Snap Setter tool also purchased from the same supplier. I can't recommend this company enough. The snaps are really good quality and the Snapsetter Tool is very easy to use. Tip: don't attempt to apply snaps after 10pm or you may experience some abuse heated discussion from other members of your household. I speak from experience.

He's smiling...I think he likes it.

I have found sewing men's shirts very satisfying. It's fairly easy to achieve a good fit as they have less curves than women and they just turn out so well...just like a bought one, only better.

On a different note, I have joined Sarah from Goodbye Valentino in a Ready To Wear fast for 2014. That means I have given up buying Ready-to-Wear clothing from January 1 2014 – December 31, 2014 one year in favour of making my clothes. 

What constitutes a RTW fast? Refraining from buying ALL outerwear, dresses, tops, pants, shorts, sweaters, coats, exercise clothes, jeans and bathing suits. Shoes, socks and underwear are permitted 


Happy Sewing

The Birthday Shirt

Well, I have finally made my partner a proper men's shirt. (I have been promising this for a while now), just in time for his birthday.

In preparation to make this shirt, I purchased Pam Howard's "The Classic Tailored Shirt" from Craftsy. This class was fantastic. Pam is such a great teacher. She explained every step of making a classic tailored shirt very clearly and demonstrated every step in great detail. She even made a couple of mistakes herself, but then explained and showed how to fix those mistakes. I learnt so much from this class and it certainly gave me the confidence to make my own classic tailored shirt.

I used McCalls 6044 in a large with a few alterations.

I eliminated the separate front band, by cutting the front band and the shirt front as one piece. I also eliminated the seam in the two piece sleeve, so that the sleeve was only one piece. I redrafted the back of the shirt to create a proper yoke and yoke facing. I made these changes simply to make the shirt pattern more like the Kwik Sew pattern that Pam was using in the class. I also made a tower placket. The Craftsy class did not cover a tower placket, only a continuous placket was demonstrated. However, Pam did provide a pattern for a tower placket in the class notes and a link to her Tower Placket Tutorial.

The fabric I used was 100% cotton shirting purchased online from The Remnant Warehouse and I see it is still available. It was a lovely soft cotton and easy to work with. Although the stripes gave me a headache during the cutting out process. It took a lot of time and thought to get the stripes placed to look their best on the pattern pieces. I was quite pleased with the result. In fact, I matched the stripes so well on the pocket that it is almost invisible.

Pocket

Here are some photos during construction:

Pam's Yoke Trick (aka Burrito method)

After joining shirt fronts to shirt back outer yoke at the shoulder seams, the shirt fronts and shirt back are rolled up exposing the yoke facing, which is then wrapped around the rolls (like a burrito) and pinned to the shoulder seams. After sewing these seams, the rolls are gently pulled through the neck opening revealing a lovely neat fully enclosed yoke.

Yoke facing offset slightly to avoid pulling before stitching shoulder seams.

Setting the sleeve in flat with the "Flat Felled" seam pinned and ready to sew.

Collar and Collar Band ready to attach to neckline. 

Inside: Intersection of  Flat Felled side seams and armhole seam.

Inside of shirt tail hem.

Tower placket and cuff.

I really enjoyed the construction of this shirt. Everything was finished off so neatly. As Pam Howard said "You could wear this shirt inside out if you wanted to". There was some hand stitching involved. The collar band and the cuff facings were hand stitched using a fell stitch, and the buttons were sewed on by hand. This was a nice touch and as Pam Howard said " it makes it a handmade shirt. You can sew a shirt entirely by machine, but you can go to the shops and buy one of those." I have to agree that the little bit of hand sewing made the construction of the shirt more personal and I felt that I was putting a lot of love into it.

Front

Back

Collar

Back yoke and collar

Cuff and sleeve pleats

Overall I am really pleased with how this shirt turned out. My partner even wore it out in public when we went out for dinner to celebrate his birthday. There are a couple of changes I will make for the next one ( and yes, there will be a next one or two or maybe even three). I will add about 6cm to the sleeve length and also increase the length of the tower placket. My partner is very tall (6' 4") and slim and he has extra long arms.

And to finish off....how appropriate was this birthday card?

Happy Sewing