I've not been sewing as much in the last few months as I wish. Too much in the non-sewing part of life going on and demanding attention. Sewing keeps me sane, so this is not something to mess around with.
After my fun with bricolage, I found the sew-jo to finish a shirt I cut out maybe 3 months ago. It was dicey because it has all the classic shirt details that I love. I just assumed I would ruin one or more of these details.
But, surprise! It all went great. I took my time and enjoyed the entire process.
Luckily the pattern I chose was The Blouse Perfected from Cutting Line Designs. I have blogged about that in the past. It is just such a great pattern - really a small book on professional techniques for completing classic shirt details.
First up was the collar and collar stand. CLD approaches this process in a manner that is quite different from others, I think. The collar stands are attached first, sandwiching the neckline in between the two stands. Then the ends of the collar stand are completed, leaving a gap for the collar. The collar is finished on three sides and top-stitched. Then the collar is dropped inside the gap in the collar stand. It is machine stitched to the right side of the stand and invisibly stitched to the inside of the collar stand.
I thought I'd screw that up, for sure. But indeed, it worked out perfectly. CLD patterns are nothing if not meticulously drafted. And the explanations are detailed with clear illustrations. Everything fits together as it should.
I also took my time on the sleeve plackets. There are so many ways to mess those up!
The stars were aligned and it too worked!
And then I found perfect buttons in stash. This is when sewing is totally satisfying, right?
