One day I just jumped right into the deep end! I actually really love that scary feeling. Butterflies in your stomach. Near guarantee of failure, but you just go and do it anyways. Couple of weeks ago, I decided I was going to make myself a button down shirt! That’s a big step from generic PJ pants and plain ol’ t-shirts! The risk was totally worth it.
I scoured the web for decent patterns. As I’ve learned with my pant failures up to this point, a good pattern makes all the difference in the world. The pattern that kept on coming up a real winner was McCall’s M6649 Blouse. Wouldn’t you know it though, the pattern is “out-of-print”, but you can get the pattern through Craftsy if you purchase the “Learn to Adjust Blouse Patterns in One Pattern, Many Looks” class. I purchased the Craftsy class. I found the class rather pointless, but more on that in a second.
I followed the instructions on the pattern for determining size. That worked perfectly. Since I know I need to do a forward shoulder adjustment, I just went ahead and made my forward shoulder adjustment. The other adjustments I made to the pattern was to take off width on the collar. I found that when the collar was folded over, it was too long and getting caught on my neck. I also got rid of the button placket and just added 1 ⅝” to the center front seam. It was an easy alternation that kept down the bulk. So now I place 1″ wide interfacing ⅝” from the center front where the buttons and buttonholes will go. I press ⅝” over and then press 1″ over to create my button placket. Simple. I got the idea from another absolutely awesome Craftsy video!
Making The Classic Tailored Shirt: A Tailoring Class on Crafty
Roll up your sleeves and start sewing like a pro with the help this online Craftsy class taught by expert shirtmaker Pam Howard.
This class was what made my little experiment a complete success. I was able to sew along with Pam Howard and make my shirt with no hiccups or issues whatsoever. It was a dream. I made one muslin for fitting and second muslin for perfecting my abilities and then it was off to the races. Since its autumn, my first pattern was a bright orange plaid flannel. Lining up the plaid was a nightmare. My second shown on this blog was made from Robert Kaufman’s Shetland Flannel in Red. It is dreamy! It is going to make a beautiful winter flannel shirt.
HandmadePhD 