And Sew it Begins!

It's day one of the Men's Shirt Sew-Along led by Peter at Male Pattern Boldness! 

That's the vintage pattern I'll be using, View 2, the grandpa-looking dude on the upper right, who has a far better mustache than I will ever grow (thank goodness perimenopause has spared me that trauma thus far).

In the background is a vintage sheet that I will be using to make a muslin.  I love the print, but it's not my color, so I'll probably repurpose the muslin into charm squares or strips for quilting when I'm through with using it to check the fit of the shirt pattern.  Or maybe, if anyone wants it, I'll mail it to you and let you have at it. 

Anyway, today is the day we prepare our pattern, starting with pressing it...

...check...and tracing it.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

I am not tracing a pattern that was already cut for me way back in the middle of the last century.  Well, it was probably cut for a gentleman named Arnold or Herb or Frank or Melvin, not me.  What I will have to do is cut it apart to lengthen the sleeves and body when we get that far.  If I were concerned about preserving the pattern, I might think about tracing it for that reason.  I guess I'm not concerned.

What is also supposed to begin tonight is a blizzard, though I think we're on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of snowfall.  But up to 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts causing blowing and drifting does not sound great.  

The wind has already picked up, and a little drift has started to form against the sliding door.  My 100-yard commute to work this afternoon was through drifts up to my knees, about two feet deep. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?  It's kind of exciting!  Oh, and the sew-along too!