Monthly Archives: September 2013

The Chambray Comfy Shirt, Part 4: Muslin v2.0

Greetings everyone.  It feels good to be back!

My sewing has been waylaid both by the new job, where I’ve been through week 1, and also a little bit by a back injury I inflicted upon myself while lifting a heavy section of my telescope. You know that part where they tell you to lift heavy things from your quadriceps rather than your back?  Yeah, well I got that memo but still was too dense to read it.

So, picking up from where we left off…

Muslin v2.0

I had planned to alter the pattern, then do a second muslin to check fit.  The summary of the changes I needed to make to the Large version of the pattern was the following:

  • Decrease shoulder width 2 inches
  • Decrease sleeve width 1.5 inches
  • Decrease chest 3 inches

I was getting ready to retrace the pattern with the alterations, via Pivot & Slide.  Then I noticed the Medium version of the pattern might actually be a better fit in a lot of ways, and I might have fewer alterations to make by adding to Medium rather than taking away from Large. Continue reading

The Chambray Comfy Shirt, Part 3: Fitting

Well, it’s been a bit of a stretch since the last installment of this series, but I have an excuse.

This Friday was my last day at my old job. I worked at a small company making children’s educational software for mobile devices. Its parent company was one of the more well-known smartphone manufacturers. This past Thursday the parent company shut us down with a mass layoff. Fortunately, I saw this coming and have spent the better part of the summer engaged in a job hunt. I’m pleased to say that I had already resigned by the time the layoff hit, and my new job opportunity begins Monday the 16th.

Now that I’ve gotten rid of my job, I have some free time on my hands.  I plan to use it to get some projects completed, maybe even this one! I had also thought about entering the PatternReview mini-wardrobe contest going on now.  I like the concept, but I’m still not sure I could get the whole contest completed even with two weeks of unemployment to help me along.

Finishing the Muslin

Over the Labor Day weekend, I finished up the muslin for the Chambray Comfy Shirt.

The construction isn’t great. There’s places where stitching doesn’t catch the fabric on the inside of the cuffs and plackets. There’s a nice pucker where the collar stand meets up with the shirt body. The patch pockets didn’t come out the same height. And I stitched the shirttail hem completely on the machine folding as I went along, rather than folding and pressing at the ironing board.  It turned out a puckered mess.

IMG_1511_20130904131441850 Continue reading