Readers,
For me, one of the pleasures of making a shirt is not having to squint and keep finding my place in the instructions. Many shirts ago I realized I could put instructions for all the separate parts on index cards and exercise much more freedom in the construction sequence. If I’m in a pocket mood I flip to the pocket card for reminders of a neat trick or two to making one. Same for plackets, sleeves, and so forth.
If I devise a better technique I can replace one card rather than scribble in the margin of the instructions.
Monday I cut out all the pieces. I was glad this wasn’t a plaid so there wasn’t all that matching business this go-round. (I continue not to feel very industrious.)
What I did next was all standard procedure:
- Made a pocket and attached to the left front.
- Pressed in the long edges of the front band and edgestitched it to the right front.
- Made pleats in the back, then sandwiched it between the yokes and stitched the seam. Pressed seam, graded seams, pressed yokes up.
Forgive me–I think I just reached a new low for sewing blog-writing (as I suppress a yawn).
However, it is so gratifying to get these simple parts done and see a shirt taking shape from what was so recently yardage. And the next step is, to my structural visualization-deficient eyes, anyway, rather magical.
I learned a nifty technique from shirtmaking teacher Steve Pauling for neatly and accurately enclosing the fronts in the yoke seams. I’m not sure this is his invention, but I learned it in one of his shirtmaking classes. I know so few sewing tricks, I feel triumphant every time I perform this one.
In my notes I wrote “It will look weird. It it doesn’t, it’s wrong.”
Now stand back and admire what you hath wrought. Nice!
