Simplicity R10180 and a Twice-used Toile

The knit dresses for summer project continues with a 3/4 length sleeve dress, cut from 3 yards of gray cotton/poly/spandex interlock purchased for $28.73 at JoAnn's.  After cutting, there was about a yard left.  There is also a 32" piece of the same fabric found in the remnant bin for $2.34.  With the two pieces combined, there's probably enough for another dress, or at least a t-shirt.  I will miss JoAnn's remnant bin.  

The pattern is a simple dolman sleeve dress or shirt, Simplicity R10180.  This is one of their "hacking" patterns that offers several suggestions for gathering the sleeves or side seams.  In the back of my closet I found an old wearable toile from another dolman dress cut from Butterick 6525.  It is well-worn and headed for the discard pile.  Since it is similar in shape but several inches larger in the side seams, it served as a toile for the Simplicity pattern.  Once it was cut to pattern dimensions and resewn, it looked like a medium would work.  So an old toile became a new toile.

Construction was surprisingly simple and quick.  The dress was done in a day, probably 2-3 hours total.  There's just 2 pattern pieces.  

Since it was the first time I had made a dress from this pattern, I changed from narrow zig zag to basting stitch after the side notches on the body.  After a try on, I narrowed the seams to 3/8" from 5/8" from the notch to 8" below the notch for a little more ease and pulled out the basting.  In the future, I would just repeat that adjustment or cut that area a little wider in the front.  Once I make that adjustment, I can use lightning stitch or the serger for all the seams. 

Up until now, the hems were sewn with a twin needle, with mixed results.  Really, a twin needle works fine on some fabrics that don't do well with a simple topstitched hem or even a blind hem.   However, most knits tunnel with a twin needle.  Some finer gauge knits both tunnel and bias against the stitching.

Above is an example, a shirt from a couple of years back.  It didn't look too bad after hemming, even with the bit of tunneling.  Over time, the hem biased.  Whether it is due to the cutting or to the stitching will be determined now that the twin needle hem has been replaced with a coverstitch hem.

As mentioned in my last post, I have a new coverstitch machine.  After coverstitching the hem of my recent Roscoe dress, I decided I could use more practice.    Besides not being instant magic, the coverstitch machine takes much more practice than the serger.  It works well, but since the hems are visible, it is important that the stitching be straight and evenly connected.  With a serger, the stitching is hidden inside the garment, along with any uneven or crooked stitching.

Above is the new hem on the old shirt.  Once it is washed, we shall see if it biases.  The neckline of the old shirt was replaced with a neat new neckband (I have more of this fabric, as you will see in my next post.) that was coverstitched down.  It would have worked out well but the fabric has only mechanical stretch, no recovery.  The neckband stands up a bit too much.  That's one more reason to throw this worn-out shirt away--after I wash it and check the hems.

The coverstitching was acceptable, but it is not magic.  It doesn't change the basic characteristics of fabric. The hem of the Roscoe dress is turning up, as does every 5/8" or narrower hem I do.  Ah, well.  (A quick fix is to put clothespins on the hem when it is hung to dry.  Then iron it.  Even if you dry it in the dryer, putting the clothespins before hanging and then ironing before wearing helps.) However, I have found that the coverstitch machine is more intuitive and easier to understand than the serger.  I have never threaded my serger.  It came threaded, so tying on a new color and pulling it through the machine, then threading the needle is all that I have had to do the change thread. I planned the purchase to avoid threading the serger.  

I thought I might be able to treat the coverstitch machine the same way, avoiding the difficulty of threading.  I purchased 4 spools of thread at the dealer and persuaded the sales associate to thread the machine while I watched.  Then I carefully packed it and brought it home threaded.  My luck didn't hold.  I was forced to re-thread the looper when it came partially unthreaded.  Fortunately, I was able to follow the guide in the manual and remember what the sales associate demonstrated.  I have also had to thread it for 2 needle coverstitching and then back to 3 needles.  However, the needle thread follows a simple pattern through the color coded guides across the machine.  I think that coverstitch machines are much like sewing machines, except that they have more needles and the bobbin is replaced by a looper.  As a result, they seem much easier to thread than sergers. 

For this pattern, the cuffs, hem and neck are all just turned under and sewn down.  With my Bernette 42, I coverstitched them.   The gray ITY knit is easy to handle and hem.  My only misgiving is the dolman sleeves.  They do wrinkle.

Roscoe in Jersey Knit

Last May, I made a note that I was looking for light, short sleeved or sleeveless dresses in knit fabric to wear all summer.  Couldn't find any in my closet.  Fixing that omission:

The fabric is 100% cotton heathered dark cerulean/multi blue Jersey Knit,  52" wide, $6/yard.  They were to send 3 yards, but Fabric Mart sent more by mistake.  The fabric was probably knit in a tube.  When it arrived, it was full of sizing and pressed into the usual fabric dimensions.  After washing, it became a shapeless mess, floppy with no apparent grainlines.  It did not look promising enough for a dress.  After an attempt to make a t-shirt from Simplicity 9272 proved that the fabric stretches out very easily but has no recovery at all, it went back in my stash, along with the failed t-shirt.  

The crummy looking t-shirt proved useful.  It served as practice material for my serger and later for my coverstitch machine.  (That's a recent acquisition that will be discussed as soon as my experience develops sufficiently.) The more useful the crummy t-shirt proved to be, the more convincing it was that the material was good stuff.  The fabric must be on grain on the right side.  The grain on the wrong side appears to bias across the fabric, but the knit stitches on the right side, tiny though they may be, are fairly vertical to the cut edge that has been treated to form a fake selvage.  

With the grain line crisis resolved, pattern choice was on the table.  After some consideration, it made sense to use the Roscoe pattern, even though it is not meant for knits.  It is comfy and forgiving and has raglan sleeves that are simple to construct.  The knit fabric justified cutting a size 8 (my first Roscoe was a 10).  (Sizing down for knits is standard when adapting a pattern written for woven fabrics.)

The pattern was cut to view A, which is used for both the short dress with a ruffle and for the blouse.  That meant removing the additional 2" I had added to the body pieces.  The resulting extra fabric allowed and me to add 3" to the sleeve. 

Using a ball point size 12 needle and the lightning stretch stitch, I sewed the facing on the neckline slit and assembled the blouse (sleeves, front and back).  I have decided to serge the seam allowances once I am reunited with my serger.  Or not.  They seam fine, ha ha

Next I gathered the neck and sleeves and sewed the binding on them with a narrow zigzag stitch, trimmed the seam allowance and hand stitched bindings on the inside.  Since I never have had luck with catching the binding on the wrong side consistently when stitching in the ditch, I prefer to hand stitch the bindings down on the wrong side.  Using the coverstitch machine to sew them down would be an option once my coverstitching skills improve.  Finally, I cut the ruffle pieces and coverstitched the hem before attaching it to the blouse, making it a dress.  

The top is 54" wide at the hips.  This pattern is huge.  How small a size should I cut? Even the size 0 is 44" wide.  A flowy, boho look works with a light cotton and with this soft jersey.  Other fabrics might need to be a size or two smaller.

maybe 3 or 4 sizes smaller?

So that is a dress in a light knit fabric.  Next is a short sleeved one. Then a 3/4 sleeve short dress.

My 2024-25 Sweater: Jethro

It's true that I am now making only one sweater each year.  This one spans the calendar so much that it may count for two years.  I began this sweater in late September 2024.  Initially, I was attracted to several design features--boho, loose fitting, a combination of crochet and knitting--those points were in its favor.  Again, initally, I was put off by the name.  It only reminded me of the character in the Beverly Hillbillies.  Once I read the designer's description and watched her videos, I realized how wrong I was and how right this name was.  Jethro Tull was and still is one of my touchstones.  I have the original vinyl record and often play it, as long as I play Aqualung among the other songs.  I renamed this sweater "Aqualung Blues" and made it mine. 

I already had the perfect yarn, a cotton blend from Noro.  The cotton is blended with rayon and silk to give it more drape and with nylon to make it softer.  I bought a group of blues and gray colorways in 2021 to make the Oma Goodness top.  Those colors got re-routed to Jethro, but there's probably enough of them left to do the top.  The granny squares don't use a lot of any one color.

There's about 40 granny squares crocheted together, with only the sleeves, hem and buttonbands knitted.  I like it, even though it's not one of my usual hand knitted projects.  The pattern, Jethro by Tanis Lavalee (available on her website) is clear and simple enough.  My only complaint is the drop shoulders--although it's not a design feature I favor, it is one that works well with granny squares.  

The squares crocheted up quickly.  I finished them by the end of October. Joining them all together only took a couple of weeks (keeping in mind that I only work on this project about an hour a day). Then I tried to make it just a bit larger.  You see, this was sport weight yarn and the gauge was a bit smaller.  I thought it could use a little more ease and wanted it to match the specifications of the size 3 Jethro.  I also wanted to change the shoulders a bit.  I got an idea to alleviate the drop shouldered, wider in back, narrow in front effect by adding squares below the armholes with small triangles above them for shaping.  I reasoned that change would improve the fit and provide a little more fullness in the front.

It made a more traditional armhole, one that resembled something that would fit a shaped sleeve cap. 

While the additional squares under the arms made the sweater meet the size schematic dimensions, they did not change the shape of the sweater.  It is obvious that a sweater made of granny squares is mostly square--or rectangular.

Since the rounded armhole is shaped like one that fits a sleeve with a cap, I added a sleeve cap.  Failure.  All the cap did was add extra fabric that made the shoulders stick out. I ripped back and tried adding a gusset at the bottom of the armhole.  The first gusset had the usual decreases on every other row.  That wasn't enough, so I replaced it with paired decreases on every row.   

After the gusset, I decreased the sleeve circumference further with decreases on either side of the end of round marker.  The drop shouldered boxy look needs narrow sleeves to offset the oversize style.

The gussets under the arms allow for the narrow sleeves that offset the wide body, as well as providing room for a sleeved top under the sweater.

Once the sleeves were complete, I finished the simpler knitting--the hem and button bands-- quickly.  The end result is quite satisfactory.

Retro Ruffly Tunic, a Vintage Pattern

Many years ago, I made a cute ruffled sleeve top from a McCall's pattern.  At the time, cash was short. I was living on a grad school assistant salary -- half went to my rent, half to food.  If there was any left over at the end of the month, I bought a pitcher of beer for my friends.  Those were my halcyon days.  All I could afford in the way of fabric for the top was muslin*.  Yes, actual muslin that is used to make mock-ups of patterns.   I splurged on some lace for one of the ruffles--or maybe I salvaged that from somewhere--I am not sure.  Once the top was finished, and often worn on hot summer days, I was surprised by the number of compliments it earned.  I don't know where that top went.  Worn out and tossed, I assume.

And, many years later, the pattern went the same route.  As a working mom, the only sewing I did was mending and alterations and a few drapes and such for the house--and lots of Halloween costumes.  I finally came across the pattern a few years ago when I was cleaning out a closet.  I posted a photo of that pattern, along with several other old patterns on IG, asking if they had any value.  When no one responded, I threw most of the patterns away and deleted the post and the photo.  You have seen the ones I kept, since I used them when I started sewing again after the pandemic.  Those were simple patterns, straight skirts and such that don't go out of style.  As I learned the value of vintage patterns, I came to regret the loss of the discarded patterns, especially that one for the much-complimented top. To ease that regret, I tried looking for a copy of the pattern in eBay, Etsy, and vintage pattern sites.

Without the pattern number, searching for the pattern was a long and frustrating process.  I spent a couple of  years searching now and then, looking for "smocks with ruffled sleeves" or "square-neck smock".  It wasn't until I left out "smock" and just used adjectives that I found it again. In a size 6.  (I wear 12 to 14 now, even 16 or 18 in some patterns).  I decided not to buy the too-small pattern.  Then I found it in a 10, but priced a little too high.  Too small and too expensive put me off an immediate purchase, but I reasoned it wouldn't hurt to make a low offer, like a little more than half of the asking price.  I wasn't surprised when I got no response.  That was last spring.  Last month I was astounded when my low offer was accepted.  The seller waited four months to accept my offer.  I didn't even know that was possible.  However, she wanted to sell it, and apparently no one else is nutty enough to want this old pattern.

McCalls 3526

But I have it now, and I am making--you could have guessed--a "muslin", with leftover fabrics.  

There was not a lot of leftovers, forcing me to cut the body pieces shorter than the pattern length, about 22" long.  To adjust for the shorter length, the pockets sit a little higher and the hem is only 1/2" deep.  The fit is snug, even though the shoulder seams were sewn at 1 mm (3/8") to drop the neckline a bit. 

A solid version, with lace in the ruffle, would be nice for the Spring.  That one should be improved by:  marking the corners when sewing the facing to the top neck, so that I don't have to guess at the turns when sewing; cutting the armholes 1/2" deeper; and basting the ruffles together, gathering them in one unit. Once it has been worn a bit, other modifications will be apparent, such as making the shoulders and the yoke longer.  As far as technique, it will be nice if the yoke facing would cover the ruffle seams.  Those are unfinished seams exposed in the armhole, just stitched twice and cut close to stitching.  The seam is a little uncomfortable.

The side seams in this one are French seams.  Serging, bias binding or Hong Kong finish would also work.

The back yoke sits a bit low, and the back seam, as is often the case in my shirts, is a little narrow for my shoulders.

The fabric for another version could be a lightweight cotton, since this shirting worked very well.  The shirting and the black sateen, both lightweight, are better for the ruffles and body than the heavier printed cotton.  The printed fabric made a great yoke, but not so great pockets and less great ruffles.  Still, all three of them are lighter in weight and more loosely woven than quilting cotton.  

This does bring back memories.  It's my halcyon top.

*That's why they're called "muslins".  I prefer to call them toiles.  To me, muslin is a good fabric. 

Denim Skirt knock-offs

Since my making of the last tiered skirt, there have been a few tiered denim skirts floating across my screen.  Tiered, Denim!  There's an idea.  These skirts look like jeans that have been cut off above the legs and sewn to tiers of gathered fabric.  In my closet hang a couple of pairs of denim shorts. They are too tight as shorts but will fit as skirts.

The first one is 33" in the waist, and snug in the hips.  The second one is larger and stretchier.  The waist will fit, the hips kinda sorta.  It was cut it off above the crotch and below the pockets, like the tiered skirts online.  The cut off portion will go to amend the first one.  Then there's fabric for first skirt:

2 yards cotton spandex twill railroad stripe in indigo/ivory, $26.00, 8.26 oz/sq yd, 280 gsm. 52" wide,  and 1 1/2 yards cotton/spandex denim in bright blue, $16.80.  50" wide. Both cuts came from Stonemountain and Daughter.  I used them to make skirts, leaving about 1/2 yard of each.  There is also 1/2 yard dark blue denim from JoAnn Fabrics, purchased for another project but never used.   Never recorded, no info on cost.

This is a good bit of fabric, enough for a color-blocked skirt, the only one cut to a pattern, Simplicity 1887.  There was enough of the dark blue denim to cut out the front and back at the shorter length.  Those two pieces used all of the dark blue.

The pocket and waistband were cut from the railroad stripe twill, leaving the medium blue to use in the upcycled skirts.  Skirt and pocket assembly followed the pattern instructions, but the waistband uses a wide elastic waistband in the sides and back instead of the casing and elastic.  

Sizing--This is a 12.  (I was worried so I sewed the top of the side seams with a 3/8-1/2" seam, moving to the 5/8" seam further down the side.  That wasn't necessary, but didn't seam haha to do any harm.  This meant a 3/8" seam on the waistband so it would match.)

Rather than following the pattern instructions as I did for the pants, I learned from that experience and avoided a cumbersome triple layered seam at the waist.  Instead of folding the waistband in half and sewing it to the skirt, I sewed the band on then turned the facing down and hand sewed it to the back of the band, enclosing all the seams and making for a completely flat, I.e. normal, waistband seam.  This followed a little thought and fiddling in which I learned that the wide elastic can be sewn to the skirt downwards and then folded up to enclose the seam neatly. 

Luckily there was just enough navy blue bias binding in the stash to add to the hem--this skirt is short! With the binding, there is a 1/2" hem, topstitched down.  Total length is 18" after accounting for the lower waistline in front.  It is really the perfect skirt, short enough to be cool, long enough to be modest, well-fitted and cute.  I will definitely be making this one again.

For the other denim skirts there were two pairs of jean shorts, different lengths, different shades of denim but very similar since they are the same brand.  Upcycling shorts to skirts requires a lot of ripping.  The inseam and the crotch seam must be ripped out, the crotch seam realigned and the inseam filled in, joining the legs.  I have done this multiple times with jeans, but this is the first time with shorts.  Using shorts meant I was short on fabric.  (Haha again.)  With a jeans to skirt project, the legs can be cut off and used to fill in the inseam.  For these two shorts, cutting the legs off one made fabric available for the other.  The legless pair was cut off just below the back pockets, eliminating the need to change the crotch seam.  The legs were used to fill in the inseam on the longer shorts.

There were style differences in these two shorts.  One had flat felled seams on the inseams, with the outside seams stitched once and pressed open.  The other reversed it.  The result will be flat felled seams on the outside seams and more at the skirt front and back.  There's a nice topstitch stitch on my machine and topstitch thread in blue and gold in my stash.  One pair had topstitching in gray and one in blue and gold.  I'm going with the blue and gold to suss it up. The topstitching on both skirts is sewn with three strands of thread. There is a matching stitch in the embroidery mode of my sewing machine.  Coupled with topstitch thread and a topstitch needle produces:

Hemmed to a length 21" from waistband.

My fourth skirt ideas were getting too desperate, so after finishing one that I don't like as well as these two, I will quit this venture.  The weather is cooling off too much anyway and my machine needs to visit the repairman for a checkup.

Done!

Yah, it doesn't match, but denim fades.  As does my denim skirt enthusiasm.

Another Tiered Skirt

This is the second version of a skirt that I have nearly worn to pieces in the last two years.  The first one I made in 2022 is literally worn every week, sometimes twice a week.  It's a gem of a skirt, made from the one piece of thrifted fabric that has worked out for me.  The fabric is unique.  It was apparently made from a piece of lightweight white cotton that was tuck stitched in a diamond pattern, embroidered and over dyed blue.  Over dyed because there is some black printing that remained before the fabric was stitched and dyed.  Maybe it was flour sacking or something similar?  It is extremely boho and worked well for a simple boho tiered skirt.  

It is gratifying that these skirts are still in style.  Even though there are other simple elastic waist skirts in my wardrobe, there's certainly room for another tiered version.

For this version, there was 3 yards block printed cotton in green and white, purchased from Common Thread for $44.00.  At Taos Adobe Quilting, there was some heavier cotton that I used for the lining -- 2 yards for $18.  

Instructions for the first skirt, from my blog post about the project:

The first tier should be 1.5 times the waist measurement, the second 2 times the waist and the third 2.7 times the waist. Although these instructions are fairly consistent across various sources, the length of each tier was less consistent. 

My original post contained complaints about the amount of time spent gathering long lengths of fabric.    This time, I gathered the pieces on my serger.  To set up the serger for gathering, I followed instructions from various videos.  Basically, the differential feed controls the gathering.  Adjusting that, along with the stitch length and thread tension, will provide various levels of gathering.  Using scrap material, I found that I can easily gather a short length of fabric between 1.5 and 2 times.  In other words, a 20" length can be gathered to 15" or a 30" length can be gathered to 15" by adjusting the differential setting, with the stitch length at max and the tension just slightly tighter than the normal range.  Different brands of sergers have different numbers on their settings.  Mine is the most basic model of Janome.  Usually the dials are are set pretty low, with the tension around 3 for all four threads and the differential on 1.  I never change the stitch length, leaving it on 1.  For gathering, the stitch length is set to 4, the tension dials to 6 for the needles and 3 for the loopers.  I changed the differential between 1.5 and 2 to get the gathering for the samples.  

It was easy to adjust the length of the short pieces I was testing after they were gathered by stretching them out several inches longer, depending on the length of the thread tails.  This adjustment is possible on longer pieces but will be proportionally less forgiving.  I also found that the effect of re-serging an already gathered length on the same end gathered was less predictable.  If a piece is not close to the length I need, it might  be better to cut off the gathering before re-serging.

With the practice serging behind me, calculating the cuts was next.  That began with my waist, which was about 33".  Using the instructions above, adding an inch for seams, the first tier should have been 51" x 15", the second tier 67" x 10", and the third tier 90" x 12".  This would take about 2 yards of fabric.  (Actually since I wrote this, my waist is down to 31".  With that measurement, the first tier will only need to be 47", or 48" with a seam allowance of 1/2".  Possibly, depending on the fabric width, a single cut across the fabric would be enough for the first tier.  The second tier could then be 61" and the third tier 79".  1 1/2 yards is enough with those measurements.  That's notes for another tiered skirt, maybe for next summer.)

Cutting out the pieces challenged my measuring and math skills.  The print is in 8" x 8" blocks and the blocks are very obvious.  I cut along the blocks as printed and tried to match up the print on the seams as much as possible.  In the end, the top piece was a few inches too long and 2" too deep, measuring 56" x 17".  Then a decision to make that work by lengthening the middle piece failed to take into account that the bottom piece would have to be lengthened as a result.  However, once I realized that the gathering ratio is much smaller than I had thought, more like taking 30" to  20", I adjusted the serger accordingly and got by with just adding a few inches to the middle piece.  Another misstep was setting the serger up for gathering, not realizing that there will be seams to be finished.  

For the next time, the proper order is to cut and seam all pieces, serge the seams, then set the serger up for gathering.  The final settings on my serger for just gathering 1.25 to 1 are the differential at 1, stitch length at 4 and tension dials at 3 all the way across.   Of course, the loopers can be a little more or less depending on fabric.  I think the reason there is so much difference in the differential setting, other than miscalculating the amount of gathering needed is that this very light fabric gathers quickly and easily.  The bottom tier, on these settings, came out the perfect length, no adjustments of gathers needed.

The lining extends a few inches into the second tier, ending just above my knees.  The waist is definitely too big, resulting in more gathering there than I need.  However, the gathers will smooth down once it is washed and hung to dry.  To hasten that process, I am wearing this cute little skirt now and will wash it soon.

Yet Another Shirt, New Look 6232

Here is yet another shirt pattern worth trying.  It is a more masculine approach but sized for a woman.  For this first try, there is 1 1/2 yards of Latte Lyocell from JoAnns, at a total cost of $13.20.  It was transformed from smooth and silky to thick and wrinkly by the prewashing.  That transformation, and the worry that it might not be enough, even though it is 54" wide, led me to combine it with the leftover 100% silk jacquard.  There's a top made up in this fabric that can be worn with the shirt.   Altogether, the piece cost $32.38 from Taos Quilting.  The top will work better with the shirt without the sleeves, inspiring me to transform it into a cap-sleeve top.  Once the sleeves are removed, a sleeve band might be a nice addition.

As far as interfacing, there's some featherweight sew in interfacing for the silk and the same in a fusible for the rayon.  As usual, the fusible interfacing seems heavier.  Is it due to the glue or simply that the glue must be applied to a heavier fabric than the sew in interfacing?

The pattern, New Look 6232, actually offers only one classic shirt version.  The basic design varies in that there is a men's shirt and a women's shirt, with two views of each.  View D, one of the women's views, has contrast collar, cuffs and placket.  The back is not pleated but there are darts.  View B, the men's version, has contrast only on the inner cuffs, collar and button placket.  The back is pleated.  This approach still limits the amount of main fabric needed, but the design doesn't carry through on an overshirt.  Since the shirt is worn unbuttoned, both plackets are exposed.  Cuffs and collar should match.  Collar band, band facing and collar facing could be in either fabric, as long as the turned down collar is in the contrasting fabric.  With these options in mind, it was time to place the pattern pieces on the fabric.

As it turned out, there was enough rayon for all the body pieces, leaving the cuffs and the button and button hole bands to be cut from the silk.  The collar and collar band are cut from both--one collar and band in silk and one set in rayon.  The rayon will be the facing or lower pieces and the silk the upper pieces.  The yoke facing was cut from the silk. (The color in the first two photos is off, but the details are visible.)

Once the pockets were prepped, there was an oops moment when I realized the dart should be sewn first.  Even though the darts needed to be a little lower (1/4" lower was the aim, but it was maybe only 1/8" in the end), the pockets don't sit over the darts.  That's a relief.  Darts distort the fabric enough to make the pockets more difficult to sew on.  After the darts in the back were sewn in, no cuts were made to make them lay flat.  (While the pattern suggests cutting across the middle to release, some suggest cutting open and pressing flat.)  Probably the pliable rayon was easier to shape than cotton would have been.

The pattern has the yoke attached to fronts and back with the burrito method.  The turning out to the right side was much easier than the last time I tried the burrito method, probably because with this pattern, in a size 18, the yoke is deeper and the armholes are larger.  The slippery rayon and silk pulled right through.  

The tower plackets in the sleeves were difficult to construct.  However, after following the pattern instructions for the first sleeve and watching a couple of you tube videos on tower plackets, the first one was only slightly bumpy.  The second one (after a couple more videos) was much smoother--except it seemed that the grain on the placket wasn't straight.  It might have been a distortion of the rayon, which has raised warp lines along it, or more likely, the second placket was on the bottom layer and the grain was not aligned with the top layer.  Either way, with the folds and seams straighter, the second placket looks a little off.  Overall, it doesn't matter because the rayon is a dream to iron.  Ironing it erases all of my errors.  

The attachment of the sleeves to the body was so easy.  This shirt is constructed like a hand-knitted sweater.  The sleeves are sewn in before the size seams are sewn.  Then the sleeve and side seams are sewn as one.  Finally, the cuffs are attached.  Quite different from the other shirt patterns I have tried and much easier.  The construction success distracted me from top stitching the shoulder at the sleeve seam once the sleeve was sewn in.  Once I realized the omission, I had already sewn the side and sleeve seam and decided skip the top stitching.

On attaching the button plackets, one video suggested attaching the button hole band to the wrong side and the button band to the right side.  Since this method provides for an unattached edge on the buttonhole band, similar to RTW, that's the method I followed.  Bands are 1 1/2" wide.  Cuffs should be buttoned at 9" circumference.  Actually, they could be 8", but my watch doesn't fit under the smaller cuff.  Even though working with the silk is difficult, the silk was worth the effort.  The silk on the inside of the cuffs and yoke feels so very smooth.   I'm now convinced that every shirt should be lined in silk.  Additionally, the rayon has now reverted to its original smooth feel.  It must have responded to the handling during the construction process.  Regardless, this shirt won't see much water.  Neither the rayon nor the silk responds well to a washing.

With the collar attached and the facing hand sewn and topstitched down, this shirt is complete.  The combination of hand sewing and topstitching looks a bit messy here.  The silk pulled over from the hand stitching, making tiny ripples in the fabric.  I see this effect much less on the cotton shirts, but it is still there.  Probably one or the other method of securing a facing should prevail--either eliminating the top stitching or managing to top stitch neatly with just pins, rather than hand sewing to secure the facing down first.  Nonetheless, this is the best collar turn of all collared shirt patterns I have tried.  Look how it just sits so perfectly.  It's not ironed out like that, it just turns out naturally.  Is it the fabric or the cut?  I plan to use this pattern again in other fabrics, so that question will be answered when I use this pattern in other fabrics.  This is a size 16 in the bodice graded to a size 18 in the hips.  It turned out a bit too oversized.  The next one should be at least one size smaller--a size 16 everywhere.  No modeled shots, sorry, it is just too big--but comfy.

Checking this one against other shirts I have now made, it is apparent that 27" is the ideal shirt length for me.  

I am considering this "ideal" shirt construction.  This one could be the ideal, or it might need to borrow some features from the other shirts I have made.  Based on this morning's try on, the traditional banded collar is a better fit than the camp collar.  Possibly a fuller sleeve with a small band, similar to the blouse option on the camp collar pattern, is simpler to construct and therefore better.  For an overshirt, the fuller sleeve and certainly a larger armhole is desirable.  Definitely sewing in the sleeve before the arm and shirt seams is simpler construction.  Whether there should be top stitching on those seams is undetermined, although it could be done after serging and make a super neat finish.  But Hong Kong finish or French seams would be nice in a lighter weight material.  Either of those seams could be top stitched.  Another finish I'd like to try is a bias band over the inside seam between the collar band and yoke.  With this pattern, those extra efforts would be worthwhile.