Shirt Details

Recently my cousin showed me her collection of shirts. Oh. My. Goodness. I thought I loved shirts.

She doesn't sew but she is a savvy shopper, purchasing great shirts at garage sales, as well as Chico's. And the details are wonderful.

This one caught my eye. Details include an inverted back pleat stitched at the waist, wedge-shaped epaulets, button placket with a 2-3 inch fold-over, and flap pockets.

Placket detail

Pocket detail

Center back inverted pleat, stitched together at the back waist.

I was anxious to try to copy some of the details. The Now and Zen pattern from The Sewing Workshop (TSW) is pretty close to the RTW shirt:

So I started with the Zen. I made no changes to its back pleat. I have hip fluff and decided to skip the part where the inverted pleat is stitched together at the waistline. It is a pretty detail though, so maybe next time.

The placket on the Zen looks more similar that it really is. The RTW shirt has a wider, prominent fold-over placket and, most significantly, the button holes are placed on the shirt, rather than the placket, as in the Zen shirt. I have made the Zen previously and was not crazy about the buttonhole placement. It is a bit awkward to button with the buttonholes inside the placket without easy access. Hope that makes sense.

So I redrafted the placket. It should have been easy, but I got confused several times. I finally got the pattern tissue designed fairly well but then managed to sew incorrectly. I was sewing between trips and babysitting gigs. My mind was not focused.

Having exhausted my enthusiasm on the placket, I abandoned the flaps on the pockets. In fact, I did not manage to center the placket, so one of the pockets had to go. I hope the asymmetry is not too obvious.

This is the Zen shirt with the Now collar, a very clever collar technique.

The cuffs on the RTW shirt were standard with tower plackets and cuffs. My go-to pattern for that shirt element is The Blouse Perfected from Cutting Line Designs.

But I have a vintage Chico's shirt with 3/4 length sleeves that I have always loved. So I decided to try to copy that too. First I cut the sleeves 3/4 length + seam allowance. Then I drafted a facing that is about 5 inches deep. I added it to the hem of the sleeve created an easy vent in the seam just below the facing. I added a button loop in the center of each sleeve vent and a button to hold the sleeve cuff together.

I like the cuff better folded back. I will not repeat this detail in future shirts. There are easier ways to create a 3/4 length cuff. My Lucille Ball cuffs would have been just right!

I will repeat the front placket in my next shirt. I want to improve on that a bit.

I added a small detail to the back and I call this done.

I am wearing it today. It is delightful to wear - a beautiful piece of men's shirting from Gail K here in Atlanta.