Another birthday, another flannel shirt. The Man ended up wearing last year's model quite a bit. He uses it like a light jacket over a tee shirt. Just enough warmth for those chilly evenings when the fog comes in. I went through the details in
this post, so I won't repeat myself here. Only just to say, this is a nice pattern for a fitted men's shirt. If you're worried about taking on a project like this, I highly recommend Janet Pray's Craftsy class,
Sew Better, Sew Faster. She uses this pattern and walks you through everything.
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| Front view |
One thing I learned about men's shirts from watching the class is that a guy does not like the wrong side of the fabric to look different from the right side. The wrong side will show when a guy leaves the collar unbuttoned, as most right thinking men do when they aren't wearing a tie. My first version of this shirt did use a flannel with a visually distinct wrong side.
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| Side view |
I think The Man is happier with this fabric, which is the same on both sides. The downside is that I did have to pay some attention while sewing, so as not to put anything together backwards.
I used 4 yards of flannel that I got some time ago at Joann's. I did my best to match the plaid, so I used up every scrap.
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| Back view |
Here's the back view. The pattern includes optional back darts to give a bit of shaping. I consider them mandatory, because The Man likes a slim fit.
Here's a close up of the pocket, which has been enlarged slightly to accommodate a Mont Blanc number 8 safety pen.
And here's how my guy likes to wear it; unbuttoned over a tee shirt with the cuffs turned up.
I'm thinking I have the annual birthday present sorted with this pattern. Next time, maybe a corduroy.
My pattern review is on PatternReview.com
here.
Well done! I just finished watching the Janet Prey class you're referring to and am wondering--have you embraced the no pin method of sewing as well as the 1/4 to 3/8 seam allowances? I've been sewing for 40 years and want to improve my shirt skills so I gleaned a lot of tips from the class, but not sure about the whole method
ReplyDeleteI try to use her fabric holding methods, and they do help. But I still use pins. I might feel more secure going pinless if I had her sewing set up, with the big flat table with the sewing machine sunk down into it. I'm using our kitchen table though, so I have the "fabric drag" problem she talks about.
DeleteI did use the narrower seam allowances and it did make the seams much easier to fit together. I was worried about getting area like the cuffs and the collar stand looking neat with so little margin for error. Her burrito technique really did the trick there though. Things looked nice even with those tiny seam allowances.
Give it a try, I think you'll like it!
Thx for the reply :-) Yes, the burrito method is the best!
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