That's what it feels like, anyway. I've got the collar and sideseams on the black and white stripe blouse; it has some problems and more than once I thought it was going to be an unsalvageable wadder, but I'm determined to finish it if only to be able tweak the fit.
And I'm *trying* to start a new project...we are doing OUR share in the church photo directory on Monday and I've told everyone under this roof that we'll all wear white shirts w/blue jeans (the background is black). It's going to be the Christmas Card photo for this year, and if the picture wasn't going in the directory, I'd put us in Dickens costumes, just for fun(I'd have fun, anyway).
But, since it *is* for publication, we'll be conservative. And everyone has a white shirt, thanks to a quick shopping trip with The Actor and The Flute Player over the weekend.
'Cept I'm not terribly happy with MY long sleeve white shirts. Given the lack of sewing time, I actually stopped by the mall on my way home yesterday to look at white shirts.
Counting the one I tried on when The Flute Player was trying on shirts, I've tried on a total of SEVEN shirts.
None of them worked.
I thought about going to my usual If-I-Buy-RTW-It's-From-Here shop, but when I looked online at their white shirts, I noticed that just about every one of them needed a FBA to fit the lithe young model.
I don't think it would've been worth the trip to try any of those on me.
Anyway, I dug through my Pile (the fabric waiting to be swatched and put away...I'm WAAAAYYYYY behind on that) and found a lovely piece of white cotton twill from Textile Fabrics in Nashville. I think I'm gonna just use Louise Cutting's Town and Country Camp Shirt, and put long sleeves on it.
The fabric is all ironed and laid out on the cutting table...I'm gonna guess about 8 hours of sewing time for it.
I don't know if I'll get 'er done or not. But at least I'll give it a shot.
"Counting the one I tried on when The Flute Player was trying on shirts, I've tried on a total of SEVEN shirts.
ReplyDeleteNone of them worked"
Oh, I have so been there and done that. You have my sympathies!
The only one that came close was in the department store at the mall and was by the designer whose initials are RL. It fit well everywhere except the sleeves, which were about 4" too long, and had about 2 1/2" too much circumference in the cuffs. And was $70, and not included in any of the sales.
ReplyDeleteI tried on several that fit fairly well below the armpits, but were way too big through the shoulders.
Every time I think, 'Maybe I should give up trying to make all my clothes', I get reminded of exactly *why* I make most all my clothes... ;-)
I always focus straightaway on your post and haven't noticed your sidebar. Love the stats and works in progress. 52 yards of fabric! Wow!
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to throw this out there. Since you are so time-crunched and it seems like a lot of pressure to get this shirt sewn - I have the same problem with RTW shirts in the shoulder area, so what I do in a pinch is hop over to the men's section, because if it is an event where I can wear a man's shirt, the shirt will be too big at the shoulder, but everyone will expect it to be. No one will perceive it as poor fit. I've seen women look cute as a button in a crisp man's shirt and jeans. Just a thought.
Well, I ended up wearing an old favorite shirt that has ink stains on the cuffs. But we all rolled our sleeves up, so my ink spots were well hidden. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt worked.
And I *did* think about hitting the men's section...or borrowing one of my hubby's shirts. But since I got away with a shirt I didn't think was feasible, I didn't have to improvise (much).