It's the Right Thing to Do

So, I'm working away in the sewing nook on the Tribeca shirt last night and I got a cell phone call from DD, who was working concessions in the civic center playhouse. That's highly unusual...normally she just sends text messages. I wondered what kind of emergency had come up that she should need to call, and kind of apprehensively answered the phone.

Turns out one of her (guy) friends had to make a sudden trip home (out of state) for an occasion that dictated a suit; he'd purchased a suit from Burlington yesterday evening but the pants (of course) needed hemming. His plane was leaving at 6 something this morning. Could I help him out?

Sure. I'm sewing anyway. Tell him to come by.

So at 9:45ish last night I'm pin marking the hem on a pair of dark grey pinstripe pants, remembering the lessons from the salesman at S&K about how they mark pants for hemming (mark where the pants hit the floor with the fitee in stocking feet; trim the excess off at that point and hem them one inch) I whacked the extra off with the rotary cutter, serge finished the edges and stitched them up with the blind hem stitch (which really isn't, but, well, whatever) on the sewing machine.

It took almost as long to change the thread as it did to sew the pants; but since I put black thread in the serger and my next up-projects will need black thread, it's ok.

The event for which he was headed out of town was his grandfather's funeral. He expects to be a pall bearer. And he said the last suit he bought was in junior high school.

Even if I made a habit of charging for alterations, there's no way I would've expected payment from him for that. But I did joke with him that, out of the options of 'good, fast, and cheap' for work that I do, this was 'fast and cheap.' ;)

Good Enough (for the closet)

So I finished out My Sweet Baboo's shirt to the buttonholes/buttons yesterday, and decided I'd ask him if he'd wear it.

I showed it to him and gave him the challenge "Is the boo-boo obvious to you?"

First he said, "There's no buttons."

Well, yeah, ignore that. I'll put the buttons on while DS2 is at the dentist Monday.

"Um, the sleeves are huge..."

Yes, honey, it's a relaxed fit style. Same size as the mini-check one I made for you to wear in choir.

Well, he didn't spot it. Still didn't think it amounted to much after I pointed it out to him. So I guess it's good enough.

Then he rather sheepishly admitted that he's come to prefer to wear knit polo shirts instead of button-ups; "They stretch when I move and don't get rumpled."

OK. Well, I guess my stash of shirting cotton from Michael will now be available for me ;).


Dunno how much sewing I'll get done this weekend; it's Big Spring Jam weekend in the Rocket City, and this year our church is the sponsor for the Christian Music Stage. My Sweet Baboo and I are scheduled to work in the autograph/meet and greet tent first shift this afternoon and closing shift tomorrow night. Basically that means we keep the crowd in line and hold the caps for the sharpies (tip: If you want your pen back, pull the cap off, keep the cap and hand the pen to the artist. After the autograph session's over, they'll realize they don't have the cap and hand it back to you instead of absentmindedly sticking it in a pocket. That way, the sharpies will remain for the next set of autographs... ;) ).

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....

Time to cut some more

The most recent cutting marathon (June 23-24) has now about been sewn through; I finished my CLD TownANDCountry Campshirt and DH's Jalie 2111 short sleeved shirt; DD's Kwik Sew campshirt is finished to the final front edge topstitching and buttons/buttonholes.

And I'll be OUT of cut things ready to sew.

I've got two more pieces of fabric that I purchased for choir clothing; a lavandar RPL knit and a pink tweedy suiting. I'm going to try to get those cut out today or tomorrow; I need to get them at least ready to sew before I hit the stage drapes (the desired chocolate fabric was found on the final attempt) and the Bible Costumes. I really want the lavendar twin set and the pink jacket done soon, or they'll get shoved to a back burner and may not make it.

So...time to cut... ;)