Now Shirts

One of my favorite patterns is the Sewing Workshop Now shirt.  I have made a couple in the past, and although I didn't think I would wear them, they ended up being one of my favorite garments.  I wanted to make a couple of lightweight shirts to take to Uganda, and also wanted to teach my friend Sylvia how to make a shirt.  She did GREAT with this pattern.













The first one I made out of light weight Merlot linen from Fabrics Store.  The next one is a sheer crinkled georgette type fabric, probably polyester.  I changed the sleeve length and overall length of the shirts.

One of the things I like about this shirt is the unusual collar construction.  You kind of use the burrito method to put it on, so there is no hand stitching or stitching in the ditch.  Another nice thing is that the entire shirt is constructed with French seams.  This makes it perfect for a ravelly or sheer fabric.  On the sheer shirt, I used baby hems for the bottom and turned up a double hem to the outside on the sleeve.

My Babylock Ellageo was giving us fits with the buttonholes, so I dug out my trusty Pfaff hobby machine.  We could have made the buttonholes on the Aria, but I wanted Sylvia to learn how to make a 4-step buttonhole.  These buttonholes turned out perfectly every time!  (I'll have to snag a picture next time she comes over.)  Now she knows how to make great buttonholes on a four-step machine.











She has a really cool vintage Nelco machine (sz217) and we just got it back from the repair man in Fresno.  Going into his shop is like going into a sewing machine museum.  There is every make of old sewing machine and every type you've ever seen.  He is very knowledgeable about every little detail of sewing machines.  We were just getting her machine out of the case to show him and he knew the model number  before we even showed it to him.  He said the machine is well known for its quality among the sewing repair community.

The next few days will include very little if any sewing.  After that, we will be sewing maniacs getting ready for our trip to Uganda.

Me Made May day 7 - #mmmay15

Today I was dressed all wrong.  It's been hot here and the weather report said 85 for today.  It was cold and windy and I froze most of the day.  Fortunately I had a little jacket in my car and I grabbed that at lunch time!  This is what I wore for #mmmay15 today:

Yeah, it's a pretty crappy picture to.  I look like I'm going to fall over backward.  I even adjusted the vertical line on the photo so it wouldn't be so bad!  Oh well.  I don't have a photographer and working with auto shoot at 6:30 a.m. is not the best.

The top is The Sewing Workshop Now and Zen pattern.  This is the Now shirt.  I have made that top twice and I really like it.  This one is lengthened.  The first version was really too short for me.

These crops are from the Japanese sewing book, Simple Modern Sewing.  I really love these pants and will make more of them.  Super comfortable and actually pretty flattering, not that you could tell in this picture!

So, what's up next?  I'm going for the Colette Moneta Dress.  I think I'm going to make the sleeveless version with the bodice in the black knit and the skirt and collar in the print.  Hope I can get to it this weekend.  We have dinner guests on Saturday and family on Sunday for Mother's day.  I guess I'll have to get up early on Saturday and try to squeeze in a few hours!