SHOCKING -- Man Exposes His Pelagia on Peter's Blog!

Thank you, reader Rachael, for identifying the name of this Liberty of London print yesterday.

The shirt is finished, it fits, and Michael loves it.  What more can you ask for in life, really?





Of course, no sewing project would be complete without a little wabi-sabi and this one has its share.  Indulge my compulsive need to point out these endearing imperfections to you, dear readers; it's a personality defect.



Can you see how, on the (wearer's) left side, the collar stand juts out about 1/4 inch beyond the shirt front, when it should be perfectly flush with it?  Strike one up for carelessness. (I have done this before.)

And then there's this:



I caught the unraveling with Fray Check, but it's annoying.  In retrospect I should have used finer thread for the buttonhole and perhaps a finer needle as well.  I can clean this up by hand or perhaps one of you could take care of it for me.

I also need to shorten the back hem about an inch; an easy fix.

But you know, whatever.  It looks good on Michael and hopefully this will keep him satisfied for a few weeks and he'll stop asking me to sew him stuff. 



If you'd like to see more photos of this project and alternate views of Michael's Pelagia, click here.

As for shirtmaking, the best way to learn to make shirts is to make a lot of them.  For straight seams and accurate topstitching, nothing beats a straight-stitch sewing machine and I highly recommend picking up a vintage mechanical like a Singer Spartan or 99K (which is a Spartan with a light and originally some extra feet); or a 15-91 or 201 (Spartans and 99Ks can be found on eBay for less than $100 -- and should be; a fully accessorized 15-91 or 201 usually costs a bit more). They're great for everything and give you excellent control on garments that require a high level of stitching accuracy -- and don't they all?  (You can read my recent review of the Singer 15-91 here.)

And now on to my next project.  What should it be? The rose-print dress I've been talking about for months?  Jeans for me?  Curtains for the bedroom?

I am actually anxious to get back to my cheap fabric, peeps.  Liberty of London is swell, of course, but I feel most at home with a nice cotton-poly flat sheet from the Salvation Army.  There's something about the smell of those sheets under the iron that says home.

What would you like to see?