My first man’s shirt

Well I did it and it was actually not only quite easy but lots of fun. Here it is

I used Lekala pattern no. 6207 (I think) supposedly to Mr H’s measurements but then took 3cm off each shoulder. I also made the collar smaller although this was purely a design decision. Next time (and there will be several more of these) I will make the collar stand smaller as well.

Probably the only other thing worth noting about the pattern is that I had chosen to have seam allowances added but they are only 1cm. Not a big problem unless you want to flat fell the seams – that gets tricky. Fortunately there was enough extra ease to just use 2cm seam allowances instead.

Like many of use, I also had a little help from my friends. Well actually they aren’t my friends they’ve never even heard of me but still… I used the truly excellent alternative method to attach a collar from four square walls. You can find that here. I found this so much easier than what I remember even if it has been 30 years since I last made a proper collar.

The fabulous Peter Lappin is also generously sharing tips from his class at FIT and had a great tip to use your zipper foot for edgestitching. You can find that and more here.

If you don’t already follow Andrea or Peter  then you really should have a look.

As I said this all went together rather well. I was a little concerned about making buttonholes (again for the first time in a looong time) but my little Janome did a great job.

This fabric wasn’t actually the easiest for a first attempt as it is a loose weave and tends to grow a bit. So I am really looking forward to making one in a nice, crisp, cotton. You can find out more about the fabric in my previous post here.

And another pic just because I can. But no, none with Mr H (who looked aghast when I said I was going to photograph his shirt since he thought I wanted him to be wearing it).

So do you make men’s shirts? Or have you done any other selfless sewing lately?