Liberty Classic

Some years back, I made the Liberty Shirt from The Sewing Workshop. I love it and still wear it often. And, as is often the case when I love a pattern, I said to myself, I will make this again. But I didn't. Then Linda Lee came out with a Craftsy class on sewing with silk. And it features the Liberty Shirt. I signed up for that and said to myself, I will make this again. But I didn't.

Finally I wanted something new to wear to a sewing party. This pretty piece of silk had been in my stash a while, washed and ready to cut. It is silk dupioni but has finer finish than some I have sewed. In fact the first Liberty I made had washed (and dried) gray silk dupioni. Much rougher than this. I'm happy I didn't machine dry this lovely blue piece. This way, I can still wash it when needed and avoid dry cleaning. And it retains that lovely sheen.

It was a dream to sew. I just had to have a light hand with the iron. It responds to hand pressing like a good linen, and doesn't produce many wrinkles, again like a good linen. I'm sure I bought it a Gail K.

And then it needed pearls. Shell buttons in a pearl shade. And then the necklace.

That is probably old lady jewelry, but I am fond of pearls. I bought these in Hong Kong back in the 80's when my job took me there. They are light and warm to the touch. And at 63, I've earned old lady jewelry so I guess I'll just embrace it.

Great pattern, I really should make it again.

Some things to like about this pattern:

• The back wraps to the front with mitered corners at the hem.
• The collar is almost a Peter Pan collar when folded down, but ripples nicely when up.
• The sleeves are simple but have a vent so that it looks good folded back a little.
• By stitching down the facing, a princess seam is produced. Vertical lines are my friend. 

Here is the favorite old version of the Liberty shirt:

Back was an interesting printed ombre cotton

Left side - silk dupioni; right side printed cotton