Hang on, let me set the mood...
Okay, now we can begin.
The recently revived Sewcialists blog decided to kick off its revivification with a tribute month. I knew exactly who I would becopying using as my inspiration: Lauren from lladybird and her many Butterick 5526s. Given my fabric choice, this one seems the most likely culprit, but honestly back in May I was catching up on her old posts and finally found the princess-seamed button down of my dreams (meaning that it was a) still in print and b) on sale). Scooped that right up.
And then waited until August 30 to start making this top. Because obviously I could make my first button down in two days when I really should have been getting ready for back-to-school.
(Spoiler alert: I couldn't and didn't.)
So, yes, this is my very first button down (if you don't count the Mathildes, which I don't). I have been meaning to make one because even the small RTW versions expect you to have a much larger bust than I do, and since I never button up the top two buttons, that can make leaning over... problematic.
This shirt? No problem!
Ahem. Well. This was always going to be a wearable muslin, and there are a few problems with it (aside from the fact that I was clearly a wee bit aggressive while pressing the collar). I'm not sure where those wrinkles on my left shoulder are coming from, but I suspect it might be a combination of messing up the princess seam and sleeve insertion and the fact that the collar seems to be sitting really high.
But let's face it, most of the time it will look like this anyway.
I'm pretty darned proud of myself.
I cut a straight size 6 following this ingenious method brought to my attention by Marcy/Oonaballoona. Thinking about all my cut patterns, I really, really wish I had known about this sooner.
I cut the 3/4 length sleeve because I used this rayon acquired in a swap -- thanks to whoever provided it. There was just under 1 1/4 yards of 60" fabric, but I managed to fit it all in. Rayon was probably not the best choice for a first attempt at something that needs really precise cutting and stitching, but I figured the busy print would hide any mistakes.
The only change I made to the pattern was to heed Lauren's warning about the sleeves having too much ease. Unfortunately, her suggested tutorial is no longer on the web, so I used this one (after falling down a rabbit hole of sleeve ease discussions). The shape was rather more symmetrical than it should have been, and I had to smooth out the top quite a bit, but it went in easily and my ranger of motion isn't restricted, so I'm guessing I did not too bad of a job.
All the seams are French seams and I was fairly careful with the topstitching. I hemmed the shirt using bias tape à la Lauren, but since I didn't trim the excess, it's a wee bit long, which made for some interesting playing around with the front button band to get it to fit. I'll remember that for next time.
I also had issues when finishing the sleeves. I thread-traced all the markings so as not to screw up their placement and, although I clearly don't know how to install a placket, was extra careful with the pleat. When I went to put the cuff on, however, it was too big. Fortunately, that was an easy fix. I'll have to look at the pattern again to see if I wasn't supposed to pleat it for the shorter sleeve. Probably not.
I will also put two buttons on the short cuffs to avoid this weird cross-over thing.
And now, the dress-form shots.
If you look really closely at the button band near the hem, you might notice some... extra... white spots. Yeah, that's where I sort of forgot to use the pressing cloth and managed to melt small triangles of black away from the interfacing. I did that with one of the cuffs, too, but luckily it was in a place that would be trimmed away anyway. I coloured them in with magic marker, so problem solved. Very Pretty Woman of me.
I also seem to be four for four in placing one button hole off-centre. Apparently that's now a design feature.
The buttons came from my stash, which was part of the Great Clean Out of 2015. I feel that they're a little too grey, but they'll do. I decided to forego the collar and top button since I would never do them up and place the new first button in just the right spot. Even though you'll have to trust me on that, since it's the one picture I forgot to take. No gaping!
So thank you, Lauren, for making this top so many times and bringing it to my attention, as well as sharing what you learned so that I didn't have to beat myself up over that sleeve cap. I'm definitely going to make this again and again; I'll have to play around with the sleeve a bit more. I might even have to look into one of the DC's tailoring books -- I have been assiduously avoiding that because he's been hounding me to draft my own clothes for years now. However, I have a bunch of RTW white tops that need to be replaced and this is the base pattern I've been looking for. Plus I have a sweet idea for a May the fourth top percolating.
Okay, now we can begin.
The recently revived Sewcialists blog decided to kick off its revivification with a tribute month. I knew exactly who I would be
And then waited until August 30 to start making this top. Because obviously I could make my first button down in two days when I really should have been getting ready for back-to-school.
(Spoiler alert: I couldn't and didn't.)
So, yes, this is my very first button down (if you don't count the Mathildes, which I don't). I have been meaning to make one because even the small RTW versions expect you to have a much larger bust than I do, and since I never button up the top two buttons, that can make leaning over... problematic.
This shirt? No problem!
Ahem. Well. This was always going to be a wearable muslin, and there are a few problems with it (aside from the fact that I was clearly a wee bit aggressive while pressing the collar). I'm not sure where those wrinkles on my left shoulder are coming from, but I suspect it might be a combination of messing up the princess seam and sleeve insertion and the fact that the collar seems to be sitting really high.
But let's face it, most of the time it will look like this anyway.
I'm pretty darned proud of myself.
I cut a straight size 6 following this ingenious method brought to my attention by Marcy/Oonaballoona. Thinking about all my cut patterns, I really, really wish I had known about this sooner.
I cut the 3/4 length sleeve because I used this rayon acquired in a swap -- thanks to whoever provided it. There was just under 1 1/4 yards of 60" fabric, but I managed to fit it all in. Rayon was probably not the best choice for a first attempt at something that needs really precise cutting and stitching, but I figured the busy print would hide any mistakes.
The only change I made to the pattern was to heed Lauren's warning about the sleeves having too much ease. Unfortunately, her suggested tutorial is no longer on the web, so I used this one (after falling down a rabbit hole of sleeve ease discussions). The shape was rather more symmetrical than it should have been, and I had to smooth out the top quite a bit, but it went in easily and my ranger of motion isn't restricted, so I'm guessing I did not too bad of a job.
All the seams are French seams and I was fairly careful with the topstitching. I hemmed the shirt using bias tape à la Lauren, but since I didn't trim the excess, it's a wee bit long, which made for some interesting playing around with the front button band to get it to fit. I'll remember that for next time.
I also had issues when finishing the sleeves. I thread-traced all the markings so as not to screw up their placement and, although I clearly don't know how to install a placket, was extra careful with the pleat. When I went to put the cuff on, however, it was too big. Fortunately, that was an easy fix. I'll have to look at the pattern again to see if I wasn't supposed to pleat it for the shorter sleeve. Probably not.
I will also put two buttons on the short cuffs to avoid this weird cross-over thing.
And now, the dress-form shots.
If you look really closely at the button band near the hem, you might notice some... extra... white spots. Yeah, that's where I sort of forgot to use the pressing cloth and managed to melt small triangles of black away from the interfacing. I did that with one of the cuffs, too, but luckily it was in a place that would be trimmed away anyway. I coloured them in with magic marker, so problem solved. Very Pretty Woman of me.
I also seem to be four for four in placing one button hole off-centre. Apparently that's now a design feature.
The buttons came from my stash, which was part of the Great Clean Out of 2015. I feel that they're a little too grey, but they'll do. I decided to forego the collar and top button since I would never do them up and place the new first button in just the right spot. Even though you'll have to trust me on that, since it's the one picture I forgot to take. No gaping!
So thank you, Lauren, for making this top so many times and bringing it to my attention, as well as sharing what you learned so that I didn't have to beat myself up over that sleeve cap. I'm definitely going to make this again and again; I'll have to play around with the sleeve a bit more. I might even have to look into one of the DC's tailoring books -- I have been assiduously avoiding that because he's been hounding me to draft my own clothes for years now. However, I have a bunch of RTW white tops that need to be replaced and this is the base pattern I've been looking for. Plus I have a sweet idea for a May the fourth top percolating.
Oh my goodness - you don't do things by halves! Your first button up! In rayon! the week before school! I can't notice any of the "issues" you pointed out, so that print is doing it's job well! Wear it with pride, and thanks for taking part in tribute month!
ReplyDelete