This project has been in the works for quite some time now. Back in January, after our first camping trip of the year, we endured some high winds and cold weather. After that, Jeff decided he wanted a Merino wool undershirt to keep him warm. And he wanted me to make it for him.
Cue nervous stomach butterflies.
Only once have I sewn something for someone other than myself, and it was a pretty poor quality. I'm willing to live with imperfections and slightly skewed hems and such with things I make for myself - I call those little mess-ups my "only God is perfect" moments. But I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to making things for other people. Something that seems great to me all of a sudden seems less than acceptable if it's going to someone else. It's an issue. Of course, this issue was immediately compounded by the fact that it was for my husband. I want him to be proud of my work, to show it off and be like, "look at this awesome shirt! My wife made it from scratch!" So when he seriously asked me to make this shirt, my perfectionism went into overdrive, and my level of nervousness that it wouldn't be good enough shot through the roof.
Merino wool is some fantastic stuff. It is crazy warm! It also keeps moisture off of the skin (to a degree) and dries relatively quickly. It is also expensive. Jeff wanted his shirt made out of Merino wool, since that's what a lot of the high quality undershirts were made out of at REI. So I found a company that would sell a few yards of Merino wool fabric, and bought some. I got it on sale, so it was only $15/yard, but that's still more than I've ever paid for fabric before. Theoretically, it made it cheaper than buying a shirt from the store. Theoretically.
I used another undershirt of Jeff's to draw my basic pattern. Then I measured again and again and again to make sure everything was even. Then, I got some cheap knit fabric to test the pattern out, and sewed up the tester shirt. Boy am I glad I did that! The shirt did not fit well around the shoulders or underarms, and it was too tight across the back. There were a number of adjustments that needed to be made. So I began to read up on fitting armholes.
Let me just tell you - if ever you're making your own clothes and find a pre-made pattern with armholes that fit well, use it for all of your armholes. Drawing them from scratch is ridiculous. Do-able, for sure, and easier with practice, but it was no easy feat. My mother worked some miracles to get those armholes adjusted!
After we figured out the adjustments, we drew new pieces of patterns and taped them onto the old ones (so we wouldn't have to redraw all of the patterns). Then we got some more tester fabric and sewed up a new tester shirt. This one fit much better. I made some final adjustments to the pattern and then prepared the Merino wool - it was go time!
Cue more nervous stomach butterflies.
I took my time lining up the fabric and cutting out all the pieces, checking and re-checking everything before I cut the fabric. Then I went to work. Once the sleeves were on, I had Jeff try it on. The shoulders were a little off - possibly because of differences in stretch and stretch recovery - so I had to unpick, adjust, and resew the shoulders. Then I attached the cuffs and finished it off with a hem using a twin needle (for the first time!).
Overall, I'm glad I could make something special for Jeff. It's a great shirt for camping, and apparently for cold mornings at work. It was a somewhat stressful experience, mostly because of the armhole debacle. Fitting it was a mess. On the bright side though, I now have a perfectly fit armhole pattern for Jeff! All his future shirt projects should be considerably easier, once I recover from this one, that is...
Cue nervous stomach butterflies.
Only once have I sewn something for someone other than myself, and it was a pretty poor quality. I'm willing to live with imperfections and slightly skewed hems and such with things I make for myself - I call those little mess-ups my "only God is perfect" moments. But I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to making things for other people. Something that seems great to me all of a sudden seems less than acceptable if it's going to someone else. It's an issue. Of course, this issue was immediately compounded by the fact that it was for my husband. I want him to be proud of my work, to show it off and be like, "look at this awesome shirt! My wife made it from scratch!" So when he seriously asked me to make this shirt, my perfectionism went into overdrive, and my level of nervousness that it wouldn't be good enough shot through the roof.
Merino wool is some fantastic stuff. It is crazy warm! It also keeps moisture off of the skin (to a degree) and dries relatively quickly. It is also expensive. Jeff wanted his shirt made out of Merino wool, since that's what a lot of the high quality undershirts were made out of at REI. So I found a company that would sell a few yards of Merino wool fabric, and bought some. I got it on sale, so it was only $15/yard, but that's still more than I've ever paid for fabric before. Theoretically, it made it cheaper than buying a shirt from the store. Theoretically.
I used another undershirt of Jeff's to draw my basic pattern. Then I measured again and again and again to make sure everything was even. Then, I got some cheap knit fabric to test the pattern out, and sewed up the tester shirt. Boy am I glad I did that! The shirt did not fit well around the shoulders or underarms, and it was too tight across the back. There were a number of adjustments that needed to be made. So I began to read up on fitting armholes.
 |
| drawing my pattern pieces |
 |
| all of the finished pieces! |
 |
| making the tester shirt |
 |
| a hot mess of a shoulder/armhole |
Let me just tell you - if ever you're making your own clothes and find a pre-made pattern with armholes that fit well, use it for all of your armholes. Drawing them from scratch is ridiculous. Do-able, for sure, and easier with practice, but it was no easy feat. My mother worked some miracles to get those armholes adjusted!
After we figured out the adjustments, we drew new pieces of patterns and taped them onto the old ones (so we wouldn't have to redraw all of the patterns). Then we got some more tester fabric and sewed up a new tester shirt. This one fit much better. I made some final adjustments to the pattern and then prepared the Merino wool - it was go time!
Cue more nervous stomach butterflies.
I took my time lining up the fabric and cutting out all the pieces, checking and re-checking everything before I cut the fabric. Then I went to work. Once the sleeves were on, I had Jeff try it on. The shoulders were a little off - possibly because of differences in stretch and stretch recovery - so I had to unpick, adjust, and resew the shoulders. Then I attached the cuffs and finished it off with a hem using a twin needle (for the first time!).
Overall, I'm glad I could make something special for Jeff. It's a great shirt for camping, and apparently for cold mornings at work. It was a somewhat stressful experience, mostly because of the armhole debacle. Fitting it was a mess. On the bright side though, I now have a perfectly fit armhole pattern for Jeff! All his future shirt projects should be considerably easier, once I recover from this one, that is...
 |
| the finished product! |
You are amazing--that looks fantastic!
ReplyDelete