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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Rumpled

This past weekend, Hubby and I headed to Michigan for a get-together with my Dad's side of the family.  I decided I wanted to wear something new and spring-like, but I was afraid to wear my new Roxanne:  too many kids and too much food and wine around! 

So I made myself a new Archer, but with a twist this time:  this one is pop-over style.  I've been wanting to try this out for a while, as I love the look of a pop-over shirt.  I started out being a really good blogger, taking pictures as I went so I could show you all how I did it.

I narrowed the sleeve by 3/4" each side, and then made a 15" long tower placket.



Then I started to sew that placket on:


And then I realized that the next bit - the trickiest bit - would never show up in this crazy fabric!  So, tutorial abandonned!  But I will be doing this again in a chambray, so I will take lots of detailed pictures of that one.  I have seen some comments that people fear the tower placket, but it's really not that hard to do.

Anyhoo . . .   My good blogging intentions were further abandonned over the weekend.  We left home at 6:15 Saturday morning, so I promised myself to have someone take my picture once we were at my aunt's house.  Of course, I spent the whole day yacking with my relatives, eating and drinking, and totally forgot to get a picture of the entire outfit!  The closest I got was this picture:


This is a picture my brother took of my niece and me.  I trimmed her out because I don't think it's cool to post pictures of other people's kids on the interwebs.  Better safe than sorry :-)

So, what you guys get is a picture of my rumpled shirt.  It kept me comfortable and stylish all day long. 


I thought it was interesting that I got comments from a lot of non-sewing people about my "excellent pattern matching on the front."  They were impressed that I centered that butterfly (or as I like to call it, booberfly, due to its position).   I should have just said, "Yeah, I'm that good."  But instead I found myself explaining how the front is cut on the fold so no matching is required.

The reason I narrowed the sleeve is that I left off the cuff so I could do this:


But it turns out that narrowing it by 3/4" each side was too much for me, so I'll add some back in next time.

I was a little disappointed that the front placket kind of gets lost in the print, but I feel the overall shirt is a success.


Of course, this is more of the Anna Maria Horner Field Study voile, Sinister Swarm in Vivacious.

Here's the collar, also getting lost:


This shirt actually ended up taking less time than it takes me to make a "normal" Archer, despite the placket.  I left off the pockets and cuffs, and I only had to make 5 buttonholes on the placket and one each on the button tabs for the sleeves.  I left off the buttonhole on the collar stand because it will never get buttoned.

I LOVE making shirts, and it was really fun to do this one with a few changes to the style.  I can't wait to do it again, but I think I will have to as I've got more travel in my near future, and I really need to finish that Robson trench I've been working on for I don't know how long!

42 comments:

  1. Lovely fabric! I think you've been training those non-sewing folks so that they know what to look for in a made garment. Hooray for booberflies!

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    1. Hahaha, must be! Maybe I blather on about sewing more than I realize? LOL!

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  2. I want a front placket!!! Now I have to just stalk you for the next installment... :)

    Super cute shirt!

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    1. Uh oh! I'll try to get to it soon, but it might not happen until mid-May. But you can stalk me anyhow :-)

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  3. Well, I think you can take credit for choosing to make this style of shirt with this print, because it looks really cool with the placket interrupting the big butterfly! Very cool. And you already know this, but I would love a tower placket tutorial! I really love this style of shirt, so it would be great to conquer my fears. :)

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    1. Yes, I aspire to be one of those old ladies who wears crazy prints :-) I do think this style will look better in the chambray I have, but I dig this one too!

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  4. I love a wild print. That is a lovely shirt, especially with the big butterfly in the front. I never think of making myself shirts in fabulous prints, and yet they are often the tops I find myself wearing to death. Great work!

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    1. Hahaha, I'm just the opposite! I tend to make everything in crazy prints, and then nothing goes together! Thank goodness for jeans!

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  5. It is a beautiful shirt, even if some of the details get lost :)
    Up close you can certainly see them all though!

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  6. I love this shirt! The colours are so pretty. The placket looks good too, and you look very happy in the photo :)

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    1. Thank you! And I was happy - we had a great weekend visiting with family!

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  7. Wow, that looks professionally made, which at this point, I'm sure it is. Job well done!! My stuff always has SOMETHING that gives it away as home made.

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    1. Such a great compliment - thank you! Although no one is paying me - and I wouldn't want to. I think if sewing were my job it would take all the joy out of it for me.

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  8. As I know nothing of sewing, what is a pop over style? Is that in the front?

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    1. Yes, it's like a button-up shirt, but the buttons only go half way down the front, so you have to pop it over your head to get it on!

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  9. What a great change to this pattern! I think you're getting really close to having a week's worth of Archers. I love busy prints and this one looks great (and definitely hides any rumpling). So cool that your non-sewing relatives know what to look for!

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    1. I think you're right! Just a couple more and I'll be there! And yes, this print hides a lot!

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  10. This is totally a success! I love the fabric and the popover style looks great!

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  11. I would totally buy this in a store. Great looking shirt!

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  12. This is fab Gail. All your gorgeous shirts make me want to try one for myself, despite the fact that I've never liked wearing shirts!

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    1. You should try it! I've always loved wearing shirts, but I've got to say: having shirts that are made to fit my body, and being able to use luxurious fabrics, has taken my love for shirts up several notches! And I find them very fun to make!

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  13. Ooh this is so gorgeous!! I love your booberfly ha!

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    1. Thanks, Kathryn! The booberfly is the best part!

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  14. i love this! the fabric, of course, is awesome, and the popover style is so cute. i'm not usually in favor of leaving off details like the cuffs, but adding the roll up tabs make it all better! and hey, if you went mandarin collar this would almost be a quick afternoon project!

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    1. I almost did a mandarin collar! But then I decided this one looked better with the collar. I'm sure there's a mandarin in my future though!

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  15. Great Archer! The fabric is gorgeous too :) I love the idea of leaving the cuffs off when you are going to wear them rolled up anyway.. I want to do that to my next Archer :)

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    1. Thanks, Kim! I love how it is so easy to change things just a little, and you've got a whole different style!

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  16. Haha, these are exactly the mods I've been thinking about for ages for a piece of duck egg blue silk in the stash and the Archer! The only other thing I might change is removing the collar and just having the stand. Nice job and I love your fabric. Nice to see that this is an easy mod.

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    1. Oooh, you have to make that up ASAP! I think you're right for the silk you have - mandarin collar would look perfect!

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  17. Did you wear it with the jeans you made? That would really impress them!

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    1. I did not - but I wore them the next day! However, no one asked if I made them, and I never like to announce it unless I'm asked, LOL! But I was wearing the coral coat I made last spring, and they were suitably impressed by that :-)

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  18. Definitely looking forward to this tutorial -- I love how that placket looks on this shirt! And the foolproof "pattern matching" effect is a total bonus, that booberfly looks rad. :) These colors are great on you, as well...

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    1. It makes me look vivacious, does it not? Hehehee! I keep going back and forth: I love that it makes "pattern matching" a no-brainer, but it bothers me that the look of the placket gets lost! And I felt like a contrast placket on this one would look weird.

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  19. Oh, this is so cute! I need to try a popover version, too! Love the way the butterfly looks on the front!

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    1. Thank you! Popovers are so fun! They make me feel all J.Crew :-)

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  20. Bookmarked! But first to try the original Archer first...

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