Giddyap, the shirt is done and sorry about the state of the sofa.
After returning home from the notorious birthday portrait, I finished the second cuff and got to work on those snaps. I had never attached snaps before and I was a little uncertain about the process, but I followed the directions and it worked great.
You really can't be timid about it: you have to hammer down hard to make sure the snaps hold but it's not difficult once you get the hang of it and I love the result. I used an antique wooden spool to hammer down onto (you don't want to hammer directly onto the snap) which allowed me to hammer on the rim of the snap and avoid the center. I demolished the spool in the process but it was worth it.
Nothing looks as good on a Western style shirt as faux pearl snaps. I used the Dritz brand: they come in packages of 12, precisely the number I needed for the shirt. Luckily I didn't ruin any.
I'm very happy with this shirt and proud I made it on my beloved treadle.
The shirt could still use a good pressing but otherwise it's finished and I'm now ready to move on to...
Dare I even say it?
Is there anything about making a Western style shirt you have questions about?
McCall's 6383 is a vintage pattern from 1978 with very good instructions and I recommend it. There are a ton of Western shirt patterns out there from every era but I think the ones from the Seventies are cut a little slimmer. Etsy is a great place to find them.
There are a few more treadle shirt pics here if you care to relive the journey.
And that's it. A new week begins and hopefully no more portraits for a while.
What's going on in your corner of the sewing room? Is it time to start nagging again?
Have a great day, everybody!
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