First Shirt Done Finally

 I have finally finished Simplicity 3684. It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I have a few things I need to tweak about the construction and also the fit but nothing too heavy. I waited until I started this shirt to watch my Shirtmaking Techniques DVD and also start reading Easy Guide to Sewing Blouses and Shirtmaking: Developing Skills For Fine Sewing. So before I start my next shirt I WILL take time to do some research so it look and go together a lot better next time. I main places I had problems or just don't look as neat as I would like are the collar and the cuff.

As far as fit, I love it. Its the only shirt I own that doesn't pull across the bust. All of my RTW shirts have this problem, some are so bad that the buttonhole has stretched so much it won't even button across my bust, but they fit fine in all other places. The only adjustment I know I need to make is length, I like my shirts a tad longer, so for the next one with this hem shape I plan to add 1 inch. Also I feel that my buttons are too big for my liking but again a minor issue. This is my first shirt in years as a matter of fact one of my first items as a beginner sewist was a shirt and it took me three weeks to make it. Even tho it wasn't perfect I felt it looked pretty good for someone who was new to sewing and had no lessons just using books and common sense to figure things out. And I wore it proudly and had it for years I think I just lost it when I came here 2 years ago. Even tho by that time it was not wearable outside the house, I really liked it.

So here is my second shirt almost 10 years later. This one is made from a Japanese cotton shirting I got from fabric.com a few years ago. I always knew I wanted to use it to make a shirt but for some reason  never got around to making one. I think the biggest fear I had was for the very things that I need work on and is apparent in this shirt, collars and cuffs. I won't fake the funk they do make my shirt look homemade, but won't stop me from wearing it, I'll just never to get creative and cover them some how. The cuffs are not as obvious as the collar so maybe a simple scarf will do.

The pattern has a few other variations of this top but for me I just wanted a basic fitted shirt, I still may try the bib style shirt but with the plain sleeves. The instructions are pretty straight forward an are easy to follow even with the multiple views I never had to bounce back and forth on the instruction sheet. All in all I love my shirt even though it is not perfect, its only motivation to keep improving until it IS perfect.

Here it is paired with my last skirt .

Until next time, happy sewing...