Sunday, March 4, 2012

Sewing: Liberty Shirt Version 2

So, my sewing plans tend to be over-ambitious. When I cut the altered (shoulders narrowed, sleeves shortened) Sewing Workshop Liberty Shirt out of some medium-weight black linen, I had fancy plans for it. The linen is too heavy for the French seams that the pattern instructions call for, so I was going to do a Hong Kong seam finish with bias strips of black chiffon. And I was going to line or interline the sleeves to make them nice and slick, to make the shirt suitable as a jacket. I even considered a full bagged lining, not that I know how.

Then it was six (or so) weeks later and today I decided to just sew it up. I followed the very fine instructions for the mitered hem, and argued the sleeves into the armhole (it took two rounds of "staystitch plus"). I did ordinary seams, finishing them with the fake serger-like stitch on my sewing machine. I pressed, I did buttonholes, I sewed in glossy little shell buttons, and yay! It's ready to wear tomorrow.

That doesn't eliminate my fancy plans; they've just moved to other garments. I have extra elaborate intentions for a garment involving silk brocade piped with silk charmeuse, but before I go that far I think that I'll try handkerchief linen piped with... well, something. Something gaudy. I still crave the whacky.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

4 comments:

  1. I love the idea of your "arguing the sleeves" into the armholes. Sounds like between you, you and "staystitch plus" were very persuasive.

    Can we look forward to photographic evidence of your "extra elaborate intentions" when these are implemented?

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  2. Great blog! I've been looking for some perfume-oriented ones, but yours is great; even more of my obsessions as well ~ a blogger after my own heart!~! I'm a new follower! ♥♥
    Best,
    Anne

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  3. Yo, Vanessa! We were persuasive but they were very recalcitrant sleeves. Some of the staystitching is (oops) visible on the wrong side of the seam, but since that's matte black on matte black I choose to believe it's invisible.

    Yes! Yes! If I succeed, there will be photographs. Actually, even if I fail there may be photographs of the sad frayed misshapen results. But I'm hoping for success.

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  4. Greetings, Anne! Welcome! And thank you very much. :)

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