Cut From the Same Cloth

Readers,

The summery striped linen I snatched up in 2014 at The World’s Largest Textile Garage Sale has been turned into not one, but two garments.

I had long eyed this piece for a blouse for myself, using Vogue 8772, which I’ve now sewn half a dozen times at least. Now it really is a trusty, tried and true (or “TNT”) pattern for me.  I spent quite a lot of time–I am a slowpoke–figuring out where to position certain stripes in this unbalanced stripe.  “Preview windows” I cut from paper helped me visualize the fronts, back, and collar before I committed to cutting the actual pieces.

After I finished my blouse I had oh, about half an acre of this beautiful linen, which sewed and pressed like a dream, left for another project. Would a striped skirt be good? I wasn’t so sure.

I can’t believe how long it took me to realize this linen was destined to be a summer shirt for Jack. He had watched my blouse coming together and admired the result, and when I asked him whether he would like a shirt, he said “Yes!”

I think it hadn’t dawned on me before to make a shirt for Jack from this fabric because we would be risking the uncool look of a couple wearing matching monogrammed golf jackets. But we could choose to wear our shirts at different times–if we remember to notice what the other person is wearing.

(A couple of weeks ago we were mildly horrified to discover as we walked into the grocery store  that we were both wearing shirts I’d made from the same unusual seersucker. Luckily I was wearing a cardigan, which I buttoned up so that only the collar peeked out, and we avoided eye contact with other shoppers as we wheeled our cart up and down the aisles. We escaped without a single remark about being a cute couple, but it was a close call.)

When I cut out the pieces for Jack’s shirt I did anticipate a repeat of the grocery store incident and vowed to position the stripes differently.

You will notice that the pink and purple bars on my blouse are at center front but are halfway between the neckline and shoulder seam on Jack’s shirt.

You will also notice that the buttons on my blouse are purplish. Jack’s are your standard white shirt buttons. (Call me lazy–it was the best choice in the button stash.)

Another difference between these two garments is that Jack’s has a label.

Also, Jack’s shirt has a yoke–which shows off the stripes horizontally–and sleeves. 

So you see, our shirts do not match.

But they are cut from the same cloth–much like their wearers.

(Thanks to Cynthia DeGrand for photos of Jack and me.)