It's a beautiful (albeit gray) day in the neighborhood...
We are doing our part to maintain the frozen tundra image of Wisconsin with the blizzard of last week. On Saturday, I had a chance to thank my neighbor personally for snow-blowing me a path along his side yard. I also took some pictures to show you what a difference that makes in my 100-yard commute to work.
Now you can start to see the cut he made through the snow drifts.
And here I've turned around so you can get a glimpse from the opposite direction, facing east. In the five years I've been trudging this way to work, this is the most snow I've ever seen there.
As I turn left (south) here, this is the view...more snowdrifts.
So there you have it. I kind of like this commute, snowdrifts and all!
I Believe I Can Fly...
At least it looks that way, as I'm standing in my kitchen after trying on the muslin for the Men's Shirt Sew-Along.
I'm not sure how to fix the bagginess in the back, or if I should even worry about it. I think the sleeves may have to be taken in, yet I want to allow room to wear a shirt underneath, because the plan is to wear it open, jacket style. So I'll probably go ahead and put the cuffs and collar on and then reassess—and, oh boy, the size and shape of that collar scares me.
Here's what the front looks like, so far. And no, I'm not that much taller than the fridge, it's just the perspective (standing closer to the mirror than the cupboards behind).
In the days ahead, I'd like to do a more thorough post about the construction of this shirt and some things I've observed in sewing from a vintage pattern versus a contemporary one.
Until that riveting post (hee!), be sure to come back tomorrow, which will be my one-year blog anniversary. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it rhymes with shmivaway!
13 comments:
Cute fabric! :} And I'm glad I don't live where it snows too much (central VA). :P
wow! deep snow - so nice to have a neighbor with a snow blower - my son in law has one and loves it. They are in Wisconsin too
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/
Oh, do I remember the days of trudging along in the snow! What a job to have to walk in that to work (poor pun intended).
The shirt/jacket construction is coming along well, P! (good picture of you, too) :-}pokey
Wow-ow-Wow! I only remember snow like that twice...and I was just a wee bitty thing. :o)
Your shirt is looking fab! You've done a great job! :o)
In your photo, the back piece appears to be gathered at the top and sewn to the yoke. The fullness of the gathers, coupled with the narrower bottom are creating the bubble or bulk.
You can possibly add some side vents to help with the back. If you're wanting perfection and have extra fabric, you need to take it apart, and recut the fabric using a wider width at the bottom.
The sleeves look good. Are you going to wear tank tops or tops with sleeves? If it really feels 'big' and flappy to you, you can remove the bulk from the seam area. But you'll have to use a gradient cut. If you take fabric from where you set-in the sleeve at the shoulder, it will cause you a different set of problems. You'll have to angle or taper your cut. Hope that makes sense. :o)
You're doing a fabulous job!
PS...We're not a sports family, so I'll just root for your team. ;o)
Thank you so much for the advice, Larri! I was hoping someone would say something about how I might address the issues.
There are side vents, but I think you're right about widening the width at the bottom, especially since I think I need to add just a tad more on the length. I like the length of it now, and it's not hemmed yet.
It is gathered below the back yoke. Do you think it would make any difference to instead do an inverted center tuck (pleat), or maybe two side tucks?
I will be wearing a knit shirt with sleeves underneath. I do not like the way this pattern has me putting in the sleeves (first sewing the sleeve to the shoulder seam, then sewing one long side seam from the wrist all the way to the hem). I'd prefer to do a set-in sleeve. And I see what you're talking about on the sleeve fullness. I think maybe I can taper the sleeve seam from just under the arm toward the wrist to eliminate some fullness. I should experiment with that on this muslin--open one side seam completely, remove the sleeve, taper the seam, then set the seam into the armhole and see if that looks any better.
Again, I really appreciate your input!
I always just look at the snow and think "how cute" because Ive never had to actually contend with it, but this year I've become much more aware of what a bitch living with snow can be. How nice fo your neighbour to make apath for you so you dont get lost on the way to work!
The shirt is coming along nicely. Double dare you to wear the prototype in public when it's done simply because that sheet is lairy!
I have complete faith that the actual article will fit you perfectly.
Enjoy Superbowl!
Go Pack!
I was envious of your walk to work until I saw the snow pile. And I also think you should wear your muslin when it is finished. I like the fabric.
You can always add a strip of elastic, stretched and zigzagged at the inside center back waist, to pull in that extra fabric if you want - you're going to have extra fabric if you are using a man's shirt pattern, it's just the nature of the beast. The other alternative is to put in a couple of darts. I would definitely use pleats on the yoke rather than gathers - gathers are very dated, plus they help create that bubble effect!
Man that's a lot of snow. So good to have great neighbors. Your shirt turned out nice.
I think your snow looks deeper than my snow :) I have a 10 minute drive to work. I like the fabric of your shirt--it looks nice!
P., you're so cute! Thank you for not posting Dolly in the shirt. Loved 'most of the sand in my hourglass is at the bottom.' I have that condition too, only I say that I have an hour-and-a-half-glass shape.
Congrats on the big win yesterday.
And all that snow . . . I'm not even going to go there. We have some too, but not that much.
xo -El
I think the shirt looks great. What will you do with the muslin version?
I like the snow. We don't have the snow. The snow we had went bye-bye. We had ice this morning. Not a lot, but enough that some guy caused the main road I use to get to work to be blocked by the State Patrol as they worked to get him out of the ditch.
A picture (or many pictures) really is worth 1000 words. Yikes, but that's a lot of snow.
I don't think the shirt looks all that bad.
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