Thursday, 25 March 2010

Not for the squeamish -- with POLL


I saw this photo on Sartorialist yesterday and thought (as I often do): Why not me?

Then it hit me: 

Eureka -- I'd make myself a club-collared shirt!  I had the pattern: McCalls 6890, a vintage mens shirt pattern from 1979.  All I needed was the fabric.



I rushed to my local Salvation Army and picked up a lovely, creamy-white, all-cotton flat sheet, neatly folded and smelling of dryer sheets.



I was ready to roll.

As I was ironing it, however, I noticed something rather unfortunate.  This sheet was...how to say it...not perfectly white.

Oh, heck, we're all adults here:  This sheet had been well loved -- or rather, someone had been well loved on this sheet.







This sheet had a few other annoying (albeit less embarrassing) problems, like these:





I am nothing if not forgiving (we all have a few flaws, right?) and I managed to cut around most of the abominations imperfections.  I certainly wasn't going to let some stains ruin my sewing day, nor discard a perfectly good $1.99 bed linen; do you think money grows on trees?

I cut out my fabric -- strategically -- and got to work.



As of last night I had finished everything but the sleeves, hem, cuffs, and buttonholes.



I'm particularly proud of this:



The question of the moment is, will this shirt be ready to wear to lunch today with the Slapdash Sewist and her entourage?  I have many other sheets shirts to choose from, of course, and I hate to rush.

A second question might be, if I do wear the shirt and Slappy's read my blog, will I be banished to the far corner of the room?

Consider this the first Male Pattern Boldness cliffhanger!

Honestly, readers, was I wrong to just work around those stains?  It's not like the sheet hadn't been laundered; it was simply beyond laundry.

It HAD found its way to the thrift store, after all.

In your own words:


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