Lagniappe

Lagniappe: a small gift.

I've heard it used as a synonym for serendipity. Maybe serendipity is closer to my meaning.

Today I received a small gift of time. Lagniappe? Maybe. Serendipity. Certainly. Time to spend in my workroom to nearly finish a shirt. I savored this sweet bonus time.

The shirt is not perfect, but I won't dwell on that.

There were a few challenging aspects. First the fabric is very different from anything I have sewn. It is a nice cotton shirting with just a little sheen. I purchased it at Heddy's in Las Vegas. It presses beautifully and is easy to handle in most ways. 

The color effect is unusual, composed with seemingly equal parts blue and black in a Moiré pattern. The weave pattern is hard to track. As luck would have it, I failed to notice the Moiré appearance until I had cut it out. As usual, I had very little fabric for my planned project. Had I noticed the Moiré, I might have fretted over matching it and abandoned this.

The second challenge is that this is a very dark color, much darker than it appears in the pictures. Two Ott lamps plus the regular machine light were almost not enough, especially when I had to remove not one, but two, machine stitched buttonholes!

Having seen some really cool versions of Butterick 6026 online, I've wanted to make it again. Last time I used this fabulous pattern, I created the 3/4 sleeves shown in one of the views. I've worn and enjoyed that top.

This time, I decided to graft Louise Cutting's excellent classic sleeves onto Butterick 6026. This sleeve is from her pattern titled The Blouse Perfected. I wanted classic long sleeves with a placket and cuffs to turn back. 

I left off the collar, as I really like a simple collar band. The inside of the collar band, and the inside of the cuffs are made from another cotton shirting. 

In the picture (and in reality), it almost looks faded in the areas where the light threads dominate the dark. I like that effect.

All in all, I think I will enjoy this shirt. I just need to add the buttons. I am still hopeful that real autumn weather will show up in the southeastern US, allowing me to once again wear a long sleeved shirt.