Wardrobe Wednesday: Ugly Shirt #1, Cutting and Sewing

Contrary to what the title says, there won't be much in the way of step-by-step in this post.  I'll just share the overview.  For a walk-through of this pattern, check out Joe's blog.

These are the prints Darling Husband selected for his shirt.  I think he has decided that there are no fashion police so he can come up with the most amazing combinations of fabrics.  I do curate his selections a little, but mostly to help him find a good companion to his chosen accent fabric.  This shirt, I think, is rather tame.

When I purchased the fabric, I made a terrible mistake.  I said 2.5 yards instead of 2 and 5/8 yards.  I should have just said 3 yards.  As it was, I couldn't cut one piece of the pieced shirt front.  I ended up going back to the store to pick up another yard.  Yes, a 1/8 yard mistake can cost you an entire yard.  That's okay, these are quilting cottons, so they won't go to waste.

This shirt took several days of work to construct.  I'm sure if I sat down and worked on it for a dedicated day I could finish it in one day.  As it was, I would work on it an hour or so in the afternoons after work so it took a while to finish.

I used some of the contrast fabric to add some cute little details.  The pocket was an experiment in lining up my print.  I think it worked out well.  It might have disappeared if I hadn't used the contrast for the top of the pocket.

I used the contrast on the underside of the collar, too.  I think this is my favorite part of this shirt.

Next week I will finish up with the buttons and the button holes.  Even with a sewing machine that does one-step button holes I have a little trepidation about button holes.  I'm sure this just means I need practice.