Finally, it was time to use the last of my precious fabric purchases, one that is notably made in Japan, a Painterly Tracks printed lightly crinkled rayon challis in light sage/gray sage/off-white. There wasn't much of this lovely fabric, just 2 yards that was 43" wide, from Fabrics and Fabrics at a cost of $26.60. After washing, it was moderately crinkled. Since it will have to be ironed flat to apply interfacing, it was ironed lightly before marking and cutting. From the beginning, this was intended to be used for a Florence shirt.
The Florence paper pattern came printed on heavy paper. Cutting it to cut out the pieces is hard on my cutters and makes it difficult to cut a larger size later. Some say it is intended for tracing, but tracing is not my usual method. In the end, only one pattern piece, the front, was traced off and altered.
Initially, since the wrong side of the fabric is white, the fabric was marked and cut out roughly. The upper back was cut along the widest line, while the lower back was cut the full width of the fabric. These pieces were trimmed during the construction. The other pattern pieces were not altered as much and were cut to a slightly larger size than the first version.
There were two factors that shaped this haphazard approach. One, the sizing on this pattern is very fabric dependent. Two, if the edges are to be serged after sewing, my preference is for a wider seam allowance than the 3/8" set in this pattern. Now that it is done, this version has helped me to settle on a size X. If there is another version, the pattern can be cut to that size.
The pattern pieces were laid out to take advantage of the large print of the fabric. The bottom front was marked at 14" wide, or 12 1/2" from the printed lines along the selvage edges, placing these lines along the fold line for the placket. The side seams were tapered outward. The back pieces were centered on the central design. Since the fronts were cut along the selvage, a stretch binding was sewn over the selvage. The binding looks cute and is similar to the treatment on the blue version of this pattern, where there is bias binding along the placket.
Here is a serged seam. It is sturdy, stretches slightly and looks nice even though the thread is white in the needles and off white on the loopers. This sample persuaded me to use the serger on a few seams.
The stitches are quite tidy, with the pressure adjusted to the recommended position, the differential light (.5) and the tension on 3 for the needles and 4 for the loopers (this last is because of the thin fabric).
The pockets were cut out of scraps, matching the print on the pockets to the print on the front vertically. There wasn't enough fabric to match them horizontally. With this large-scale print, the only option was to use the long piece from the middle of the yardage that was left after cutting the two fronts along the selvage and a piece between the back yoke and the sleeve bands to cut two pockets and two linings. In this light fabric a two-layer pocket should hold its shape better than a single layer with an interfaced top.
In the photos below, the pocket placement is about 1/2" further away from the center front than the pattern indicates. That change was necessary to align the print vertically. If they are placed lower, the print aligns more horizontally and will be about where the pockets sit in the first version. However, the higher placement means that they sit more where a shirt pocket should sit. The pockets in the first version were lowered to expose the printed panel.
Sewing the plackets down surprised me by how much the foldline was thrown off by the seam tape applied to the selvage edge. The foldline was in the middle of the interfacing. Fortunately, the interfacing is light enough to fold nicely. Two layers of interfaced fabric made a good weight for the button bands.
The back yoke seam was sewn on both the machine and the serger, with both seam allowances serged as one so that it could be pressed up towards the back yoke. Then the shoulder seams were sewn, pressed open and serged before attaching the collar. The collar was attached according to instructions. The collar is prepped by sewing a guide line along the fold line of the front, where the collar will be folded over prior to topstitching it to the shirt. This nicely helps the fold stay a consistent width but leaves the stitching visible on the edge of the collar. To satisfy my taste, this guide line had to be pulled out before topstitching. Even though the collar is placed over the seamline before topstitching, the seamline can still be seen in spots. It seems the traditional method of sewing the collar to the right side of the shirt and hand stitching the wrong side to the neckline seam produces a neater appearance.
Sleeve bands were cut from the scant remaining fabric, carefully, in order to place the vertical lines of the print along the edge of the band. Perfecting them meant changing the seam allowance on one to 3/16" to match it to the other that was sewn to the armhole with a 3/8" seam. Contrary to the pattern instructions, the bands were sewn to the armhole with it open, i.e. prior to sewing the side seams. Then the side seams were sewn through the band with the band opened out, flaring the seam out a bit at the edge of the band to allow it to turn under nicely. Next the bands were folded in over the seam line and machine basted in place.
After stitching in the ditch to secure the bands and removing the basting, there was a little hand sewing to do on the inside. Probably hand sewing the entire band down would have been quicker. There's a lot of videos raving about stitching in the ditch, but it is too visible for me to be completely happy with it. It is tolerable here only because topstitching the band would also be acceptable.
Hemming was a creative endeavor. The fronts are a couple of inches longer than the pattern length and the back..the back hem shaping is simply the curve left after the yoke piece was cut. The hemline is blended into the front hem but the back is several inches longer than the pattern piece. The hem was turned under an inch and folded to a 5/8" hem that was topstitched down. It isn't like the hem of either the shirt or the dress, just somewhat similar to RTW shirts.
The button placement chart for the shirt has revealed itself. It is on the sleeve band piece. This pattern company is frugal with its paper. Since the shirt is longer, it could have taken more buttons. However, 7 is enough. There is no need for buttons on the bottom few inches of the shirt. Most likely, it will be worn as an overshirt and left unbuttoned.
The back was made much larger with the expectation that once washed, this fabric will crinkle and draw in. It may then stretch back out with wear.
With this make, the Florence shirt pattern is adjusted to my liking. I love all the details, the back yoke, the mandarin-style collar, and the sleeve bands. I also like the simplicity of the cap or dolman sleeves. Although I am wearing it here with my new Lodo dress, it will look even nicer with my new black pants. This shirt took 10 days to make, just working on it a little each day, but not every day, during that time span. The next shirt I make will have set in sleeves, cuffs, and a full collar. I wonder how long that will take.
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