This is the third "guitar shirt" I've made him from this pattern. I like the oversized, bowling-shirt vibe. The pattern itself is McCall's 8409, from all the way back in 1996 - the year we got married! It has lots of variations, but I've only ever done this version, View F.
I would guess I bought this pattern in the late '90s, and made him his first shirt around that time too. It's the same print as his new shirt, but in blue, and has been well worn and loved over the years.
The fabric is nice and soft now from all the washing, and the collar is showing signs of wear.
I think that was probably the first time I made a man's shirt, and because I wasn't as precise as I am now, I stitched the inner collar stand down by hand:
However, I did take the time to flat fell the side seams:
A couple years later, I made him a second guitar shirt when I found this red Hawaiian-print fabric:
Hubby loves wearing both these shirts in the summer, so about seven years ago when I found the same fabric in green, I snapped it up with the intention of making him a third shirt.
And I did! It just took me a while to get around to it ;-)
Now that I've made so many shirts for him, this one felt easy. When you eliminate cuffs and sleeve plackets, you save a lot of time! I also saved time by attaching the inner collar stand with my edgestitching:
And I didn't do any of the easing to get a curved collar. This shirt will never be buttoned all the way up, so I figured it just wasn't important.
This time I did French seams, which also saved me some time - durable, but without a lot of fuss:
In contrast to the business shirts I've been making, this shirt has a separate buttonhole band piece, although the right (button) side is a double fold. I wanted this shirt to be nice and soft, so I didn't interface the buttonhole band:
Two of the features of this pattern that I really like are the yoke and the center back pleat:
Can you see it? There's a lot going on with this fabric!
Here are all three versions of this pattern hanging together. I call this photo "Guitar Trio" -
I'm proud of myself that I finally knuckled down and made this shirt - that fabric had been taunting me for far too long!
nice job on the shirt, your collar is perfection! i assume this pattern is OOP - what a shame since they've replaced it with lame-o featureless button ups.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is OOP, but I checked and you can still find it around. It kind of cracked me up to see only three pattern lines on this multi-size pattern - it's been so many years now that I've been using multi-size patterns with 10 or so sizes!
DeleteI love the guitar themed fabric! I'm in Karen's Sewlutions jar needing to make something for my husband and he keeps asking when I'll get to it. Yesterday I ordered Colette's Negroni shirt pattern so I hope his shirt comes out half as good as what you've made!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shar! I'm always on the lookout for guitar print fabric, since Hubby is way into guitar. It's not that easy to find though!
DeleteHow cool!
ReplyDeleteThank you! He was pretty excited when I gave it to him! He didn't know I was making it, so it was a surprise!
DeleteIt looks great! The other day I asked my hubby if he wanted me to make him a shirt as I wanted to learn how to do it, and he said no!
ReplyDeleteWow! I find that hard to believe! Not even a casual shirt? My hubby loves handmade things - but he grew up with a mother who sewed a lot of his clothes, so to him it's normal!
DeleteLove the guitar trio, and while the new shirt is great, my favorite is the red one. It must be awesome to compare the difference in the way you made the shirt in the late 90s and today, eh?
ReplyDeleteIt was! I actually did a pretty good job on that first one 15 years ago, but while I was sewing yesterday, I did do a lot of reflecting on how much I've learned over the last couple years, and how I've got so many more nifty tools now to make things easier!
DeleteFabulous shirts!
ReplyDelete-- stashdragon
Thanks, Gretchen!
DeleteMy music-lovin' hubby would love these! One day. :) Hey, seven years later is better than never...
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I could see your guy in this! You should do it!
DeleteThis shirt is so great, Gail! I bet he wants another one now.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Evelyn! It's funny - he very rarely ever asks me for stuff, but when I make him something, he truly appreciates it!
DeleteOh, I like this! Devon wears this type of skirt ALL THE TIME in the summer (gotta love working in an arts' college!). I should try to find this pattern or one like it. This is something he might actually appreciate!
ReplyDeleteRight after I posted this, I did a little search to see if the pattern could be found, and I did find a few available from various sources. I like this pattern so much more than the current, in-print men's shirt patterns I have - the instructions seem more thorough somehow. All that said, if Devon is a size M, you're welcome to borrow my pattern and trace it off - but this is from the days before I traced, so the other sizes are cut away!
DeleteI started making my husband "ski" shirts some years ago. He and all his skiing buddies love them. Men can be so easy to please:)I can see a closet full of guitar shirts in your husband's future.
ReplyDeleteEven though I've already made him 5 guitar shirts, I still want to make more! It's a little silly actually, because he so rarely gets to wear them - he has to "suit up" for work. But it's so fun to make something special for someone you love, isn't it?
DeleteWell it was definitely worth the wait - doesn't pay to rush! I love that you can map your sewing progress from one shirt to the other - fascinating :)
ReplyDeleteI often get very reflective about how much I've learned over the last couple years thanks to our fabulous community, and I keep thinking I should write a post about it - but I never want to stop what I'm doing and take notes! And then when I have time to sit down and write, I can't remember, LOL!
DeleteWonderful shirts! It's impressing how much you've progressed in your sewing skills. The picture of the guitar trio is inspirational - I should try to sew my husband a similar shirt too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carmela! It's been fun to see you start doing a little sewing too, so maybe we'll see a shirt from you soon!
Delete"The guitar trio", I love it, so adorable! I hope he is well aware of how lucky he is to have such a talented woman in his life.
ReplyDeleteNice work! How lucky is your hubs?! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sonja!
DeleteThese look awesome and so fun. Now you two have to take a trip to the islands! He'd fit right in.
ReplyDelete