It ain't perfect

And I am bummed.

Oh, the thing is going together just swimmingly...everything is stitched beautifully.

It's the cutting that's the problem.

95% of folks looking at the shirt won't realize what's wrong...but they'll subconsciously recognize that something's a little off:


There are actually two cutting errors here. One is my fault...the other is the pattern's. My fault: apparently the collar pattern shifted very slightly as I was cutting it. I was so pre-occupied with getting the stand neat and the points even that I failed to notice until it was all done that the stripes at the point are uneven. One side barely has a dark blue stripe visible; the other has three right at the point. It looks lopsided. The center back is positioned correctly, but one side or t'other slipped a bit. That's what happens when I cut in a big hurry.

But the other problem is due to the fact that both the right and left fronts are cut from the same pattern piece. Then the fronts are finished off differently, which means that the CF is 2 1/2" from the raw edge on the right front...and 1 7/8" from the raw edge on the left front. And the CF is not marked at all on the pattern. But I used the marks on the pattern (which are fold lines) to line up the plaids. Consequently, the CF on the right side is perfectly centered on the blue pattern as I meant, but the left side is offset by about half the blue dominant stripe. The two previous times I'd made this shirt I used an even stripe and an even mini-check; it didn't matter. I looked to see if other reviewers on PR had noticed this and apparently something happened to the other reviews (I *know* I read other reviews for this before I got it). So...note to self: make a second copy of that pattern so that I have left front and right front piece and mark the CF line on both of them. It really doesn't matter on a solid shirt, or a shirt w/even stripes...but on a plaid like this, it matters.

I'll finish the shirt up...one more hour should have it done to the hand sewing. Then I'll show it to My Sweet Baboo and see if *he* notices the problem. If he does...well, it'll make a nice donation, I guess. If he doesn't...maybe I'll let him wear it keep it in the closet until I can make him a second shirt, correctly cut. I've still got about 6 yards of that fabric.


Edited to add: The more I think about it, I realize that maybe this isn't a suitable front finish for an uneven stripe or plaid. The tuck taken on the left front which would throw it off a bit; even if the CF were spot on, there'd be a bit of the pattern missing on the side of the tuck. A better choice for a plaid would be a front w/a sewn-on band; that way, everything could be cut nice and symmetric. Hm....