Shirt details

I finally got around to finishing E's shirt today. Unfortunately, the pictures aren't that great because he's not here to model it and it's another very grey day.

As I told you in my previous post, I made this shirt based on his own sloper. Like most shirts I've made for E, this one has a fairly dark colour, most of the classic shirt details and some casual styling features.

The actual colour of this shirt is olive (well represented in my wardrobe, but not so much in his) but the combination of weak daylight and lamp light in the pictures does a lot to disguise it.

Classic features are the sleeve cuffs (not pictured, you know what men's shirt cuffs look like) and the button band. And the flat felled seams used throughout the shirt.

Less classic is the collar, which doesn't have a stand. E has a fairly short neck and usually wears his shirts with top button open. On the first few shirts I made him, he was forever folding the collars flat. I didn't like the look of that, so after a couple of shirts with half-height stands (which are fussy), I drafted this one-piece convertible collar. Not a feature you see a lot today, but it works well for him. It does require a bit of planning ahead because half of the tops of the button bands need to be finished before attaching the collar.

I used another lazy solution on the hem. Shirt hems are curved and in a densely woven cotton, making a neat rolled hem can be ah... problematic. If I suspect such trouble, I go for this option: purchased biais tape is stitched to the bottom edge of the shirt, pressed to the inside and topstitched. The result is a neat, slightly wider hem.

The styling detail on this shirt are pockets with some working/cargo/survival inspiration. I like how they turned out.

For a while, I didn't like to do pockets on shirts because they are a lot of extra work (I guess I got faster at that in the mean time) and usually not functional. To spice up otherwise too plain shirt, I would do things like this.

Technically, these are pintucks. They are 1 cm wide and there are just two of them, on the right front of the shirt. I've used these with and, in this picture, without pocket flaps and I've also made a shirt with two wider, vertical pintucks. I always use contrast stitching with it. E likes the look and no-one has ever commented on my use of what is usually a womenswear and tuxedo-shirt feature ;)

Just (not quite) jeans and a t-shirt

Outside, it's definately spring now, we've already had some great weather but even within the span of one day, temperatures can vary quite a bit. So, what to wear? The lazy answer would of course be: jeans and a t-shirt.

It is kind of with that thought that show you my latest creations here. Trousers made from firm stretch cotton, and a refashioned t-shirt. Not the most exciting items, but very likely to become wardrobe staples.

I bought the fabric for the trousers when I was looking for something cheap to make muslins. One of the fabric stalls at the market was having a sale: everything on the sale-table was 0,50 euros a meter. So, knowing this stuff had the right stretch for a muslin of V's dress, I bought what was left on the bolt. I actually went home with 14 meters of fabric on that day. 14 meters of nice fabrics which cost me all of 7 euros... You will see other fabrics from this haul show up in the future (although some were rather winter-y, so those may take their time).

The pattern is my self-drafted, tried-and-tested flared trouser pattern. Third time I made it, and no real changes. Scoop pockets at front, single welts at the back, fits at the natural waist and flared from mid-thigh.

The t-shirt was one of two which I bought (for 1 euro each) at a second hand stall at the market. When you buy jersey from the bolt, it's usually thinner than the standard t-shirt stuff. Or, when you've been looking for something thicker, it's actually very densely knit. So, buying t-shirts for refashioning is not such a strange move as it may seem to be. These were 'deadstock' by the way, no signs of wear, about 12 similar ones (most of them blue though) on the rail, some still with tags.

This one of a medium, so a bit big and too shapeless to my taste. I just took it in at the sides.

Then, it was time for the fun part: decoration. I've wanted to make a t-shirt with a bird print for quite a while now, but it was hard to figure out a nice, pretty and interesting way of doing that. In this way, I like how the birds form a neckline-decoration.

I used a very simple method to get the picture on the t-shirt, the method I used for my anatomical heart t-shirt: I look for the right picture (either on the internet of in a book), get it into photoshop, make it bigger (usually to fit onto A4, a little smaller for the bird), print it, cover those areas of the which I want to trace with tailor's chalk, put the print upside down on the fabric, transferring the chalk and then trace the chalk lines. In this case I used white fabric paint and a small brush, the heart was done with fabric marker.

I'm not sure about the t-shirt tuck-thing. To wear it over the trousers seems more 'normal' but I think tucked in looks better on me (and who wants 'normal' anyway??).

Also, what do you think about my hair in these pictures? It has grown very long (and is in need of a trim) and I've been annoyed with 'only being able to wear it in a ponytail'. It looks impressive when worn loose of course, but in that case, it brushing at least every 30 minutes or so and gets into everything. Today, I made a braid and rolled it into a bun high on the back of my head. It sure is practical and stays up rather well, but how about the look? Ballerina-like and kind of cute? Or just granny-ish and not in a good way? And whatever you think of this, do you have any other suggestions for straight waist-length hair (not too high-maintanance, please)?

I can always do a bag first...

I'm so happy at least some of you are familiar with chaotic sewing and posting ;)

Yesterday, I was trying to decide which sewing project to tackle first, when my eyes strayed across the shelf in my sewing room where I keep my less useful thriftshop finds... Hats, gloves and small handbags. About three of each.

Now the gloves and hats are all in fine condition but only one of the bags is. The other two were bought together. I was at the market stall one day admiring them for their nice frames and closures when the seller offered me the two for 7 euros... Of course I couldn't say no! They were both made from what looked like plastic coated paper, printed to look like animal skin, and looking very, very tired.

When I saw them on the self now, it hit me: I know you can't reuse a handbag frame which has the bag materials squeezed in (rather than sewn on), but I can always add a layer! The inside of the bag still looked great, and the sides weren't bad at all. It was just the front and the strap.

I took some pieces of thin black leather (once part of a large coat and left over from making the jacket pictured in the banner) and sewed them together so they were large enough to cover the bag. Then, I used spray glue to put the leather on the bag surface. I trimmed the edges to about 1,5 cm past the corners of the bag and folded those narrow edges over (mitering

the sharp corners).

I made a new strap by sewing the longest scrap of leather together to form a tube and turning it right side out. I inserted a piece of not-suitable-for-its-normal-use electrical wired, and sewed along the edges using a zipper foot. Then came the fiddly bit of attaching the strap to the bag frame. I stitched extra bits of leather to the strap ends and glued those around thin straps of leather, pulled through the loops on the frame, they I put rivets in.

The new strap is a bit longer than the old one used to be, so the bag can now be carried on the shoulder as well. I know there's a loose end visible on the strap in the picture, but I glued that down afterwards.

I'm happy with how the bag turned out, but I think it could use some spicing up. I made a button robot but it doesn't look half as cute when it is hanging down (the arms almost disappear inside the body). And maybe I shouldn't have used such dark buttons. I'm not good at decorations, so I think it will take several tries to come up with something. Do you have any suggestions for me?