I finished a shirt for William on Sunday. I made it using
Shirtmaking by David Coffin. This is the second shirt I have made using the resulting pattern. Somehow, I have no pictures of the first. I'll have to remedy that.
William is really happy with how these shirts fit him. When I had used a commercial pattern before getting this book, the shirts I made always resembled gunny sacks. He still has a couple of these and I was looking at one the other day. Not only have my sewing skills improved, but I had taken in the sides 2 inches!
David Coffin's method results in a well-constructed shirt. I had a few rough spots following his directions this time, but I worked my way through them. Part of the problem was I had done this before (hmm, almost a year ago) and assumed I knew what I was doing - though in reality I'd forgotten most of it.
What needs to be improved next time:
1.Make the next shirt while I still remember what I am doing. (Shouldn't be hard. I already have two others cut out.)
2. The armscye seam looks wrong to me somehow. I can't figure out what it is and I doubt most people would notice, but I need to figure out what I did and then what is supposed to be done. I suspect they are not the same thing.
3. Work on how the collar is attached to the stand. When I went to press the inner stand seam allowance in to topstitch, there was almost too much fabric to ease into the seam. There is a wonky spot right underneath the collar. After I pulled it out the third time, I decided I could live with what was left.
4. There is a spot on the shirt right below the shoulder blades, where the shirt looks like it caves in. You can see it in the photo above. I wish I knew what caused this and how to fix it!
What I like:
1. The collar shaping turned out well this time.
2. The back hangs nicely.
3. The hem is really even and has a nice curve.
Now on to shirt #2...
