Mermaid Shirt

I sewed up another Burdastyle camp shirt in honor of my granddaughter. She came for a visit a couple of weeks ago and she's very into mermaids right now. She didn't seem too wowed by it, to be honest. She did say that she wanted a mermaid shirt too, but it has to have purple mermaids and I'm not sure I can track down the right fabric. 

But I like this shirt just fine, and that's what really counts, am I right?

I used blouse 116A from the April, 2012 issue of Burdstyle, which is probably one of the first Burdastyle patterns I ever traced out. I can tell because the tracing job is not very good. No wonder I've had trouble getting the collar on right in previous versions.

Here's a close-up of the mermaids. 

And here's a shot of the buttons I used. Pretty nice color match, I think, and the touch of gold brings out the yellow sea weed. I got these buttons ages ago at an antique store in Illinois.

I lengthened the top a couple of inches. It's pretty darn cropped the way Burda shows it. Otherwise, I made it just like they drafted it. I like the fit of this top. It's loose enough to be cool and comfortable enough to wear working in the yard, but it also works for a visit to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium with grandchildren. We kept an eye peeled for mermaids, but no luck.

Side view for you.

I finally went through my closet to cull the herd last week and realized I have a lot of woven tops, and a big whack of them I like enough that I just couldn't get rid of them. My normal routine has me grabbing a tee shirt every morning, but I think it's time to give my wovens some love.

 

It's November 22 and it's almost 80 degrees outside. Camp shirts aren't just for summer anymore here on the Central Coast.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

 

Corduroy Archer

I made The Man a corduroy button-up shirt for his birthday in September and, somewhat to my surprise, I kind of enjoyed the sewing process. I felt a little more competent working the steps that generally make me hyperventilate: the collar stand, the sleeve placket and the cuffs.

I realized that I kind of wanted a corduroy shirt for myself and I might even enjoy the sewing-up part.

I had a pattern I liked, the Grainline Archer, and I even had a piece of baby wale corduroy in my stash. I think I bought it with a pair of Landers in mind, but decided it was a little too light-weight for a pair of pants. Just right for a cozy shirt though.

I'd made a couple of Archers back in the day but the details were fuzzy, so I took a look at the sew-along videos on the Grainline Youtube channel. They are a goldmine of information for sewing any button-up shirt.

I used most of the Grainline techniques, but I threw in a couple tips from Janet Pray's Islander sewing system also, to wit: 

I burrito-ed the cuffs as well as the collar stand and back yoke.

I hemmed the bottom edges before sewing up the side seams. This trick makes it much easier to hem those curvy areas without getting little puckers.

And I think it looks OK on the inside. Better than puckers, anyway.

The shirt is not perfect, for sure, but as far as the sleeve plackets and collar stand go it's the best I've done so far. Cuffs, I had a few issues, but luckily the worst of it is covered by the overlap when the cuffs are buttoned and no one can see anything when the cuffs are rolled up. Those issues, BTW, were not caused by a faulty burrito. That step worked great. I think I have to blame lackadaisical pressing.

I actually had some fun sewing this shirt. Enough fun that I've ordered some cobalt blue linen to make another one. I'm thinking that burrito action will be easier to perfect in a fabric that isn't as beefy as flannel or corduroy.

How many button-ups does one gal need? Apparently, at least four.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.