Wednesday 16 April 2014

Unseasonably Archer

Oops, hang on - is this thing working??




Yes, another one of those awkward photo shoots.  I guess it's a little while since I got my face in front of the camera, and I just wasn't feeling it. Plus, it was cold.  Just as well I had a flannel shirt to model rather than a DIY bikini (yeah no, that's not coming up any time soon).




So, it's an Archer. With a whopping 10 cm / 4 inches of length removed from the sleeves. Do I have exceptionally short arms, I wonder, or is it the pattern? The only other adjustments I made were a no-dart FBA (of course!) and 5 cm / 2 inches extra length. I have a proportionally long torso - but I do like my tops lengthy, there's no denying it.  It's becoming a kind of unthinking pattern mantra: lengthen lengthen lengthen. One day I'll end up with a hoodie down to my knees and realise things have gone too far.

Anyway. Button placket, pockets and back yoke were cut on the bias for ease of plaid (non-)matching, and for the rest I used Jen's method for easy plaid matching, which worked out just fine, although I do wish I had paid a bit more attention to the vertical placement too. I don't like that big white stripe just off my centre front. But then I don't dislike it enough to not wear the shirt, so whatevs.




I don't know, can you tell I'm feeling a bit meh about all this? (Or maybe it's just - at time of writing - the Monday blahs). I do very much like wearing it though, or I would if it hadn't been so darned warm recently. It's like I singlehandedly brought on spring with my long-sleeved flannel sewing. The shirt is destined to languish in the wardrobe until autumn and the renewed need for cosy, grungy boyishness.




It was a grey day, so I filtered the pics as best I could to look remotely interesting (with limited success...). In real life the plaid is a rather lovely mix of primary colours, as you can see below. What you can also see is that my details are not exactly excellent - the collar, placket and pockets are all finished well enough, but they definitely lack finesse. However, total fail in matching up the button placement and buttonholes - the plackets don't overlap properly at all. Despite several excellent practice runs, sewing buttonholes went disastrously, and in the end I was so frustrated I just sewed the buttons on as fast as I could and called it done.




In real life, no-one will know and no-one, me included, will care.

I made my first shirt!  Which actually is not meh at all. It rocks.

19 comments:

  1. House Of PinheiroApril 16, 2014 9:02 am

    Very cute archer. Weather is so crazy recently that makes sense making unseason clothes all year... Love the choice of fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is great and looks so comfy on you. Yay for making a shirt and bringing on Spring!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sew Little TimeApril 16, 2014 9:24 am

    Cute. Don't you hate it when practice buttonholes go well and real ones are rubbish? So annoying

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congrats on making your first shirt! I love this bright plaid. Definitely not a meh make to my eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks awesome! Something to look forward to instead of instant satisfaction :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. huisje boompje boefjesApril 16, 2014 10:01 am

    Awesome, really great shirt and look!

    ReplyDelete
  7. SeamsOddLouise.Blogspot.comApril 16, 2014 1:07 pm

    I love a warm flannel shirt, it looks fab not meh at all. Really lovely am rather jealous.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a cool shirt! I tried to do some photos on the balcony recently, next time I'll have to try better to time it when the neighbours in front are out...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the first photo! Great shirt too :) Looks super comfy.. For me the sleeve length is perfect, but usually I have to add extra length to them..

    ReplyDelete
  10. thank you! So hoping the weather settles down soon - can't wait to get my sandals out!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It ALWAYS happens! I avoid them as much as possible, just because of this!

    ReplyDelete
  12. no, not at all really :-) I just want to be wearing it immediately!

    ReplyDelete
  13. yes, true. A make for the long term :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. yes it takes a bit more nerve than indoors! I just get so bored with the same wall all the time. And my neighbours probably already think I'm nuts anyway :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I couldn't believe how long they were on the muslin! Weird because I never usually have this at all.

    ReplyDelete

Please don't be anonymous or unpleasant!