A Two-Archer Weekend

From Friday to Sunday, I sewed two more Archer shirts.  These two had been on my list for a long time, and the fabric had been prepped and ready to go for several months.  But I wanted both of them to be perfect, so I didn't let myself make them until I'd gotten the fit just right with this pattern.

Today I'm showing you the first one - a very plain chambray shirt.  I cannot tell you how many times over the last couple years I've been trying to put an outfit together and wished I had a chambray or denim shirt.  I went shopping many times to try to buy one, to no avail.  Nothing ever fit right.  So I am thrilled that this shirt turned out so perfectly.  It really fills a hole in my wardrobe.

I've talked about the construction and fitting on this shirt ad nauseum in a few other posts, so I don't have a whole lot to add.  I'm proud of myself that I took my time and concentrated on getting everything just so.

For this shirt, I used Pro-Woven Shirt Crisp (which happens to be on sale this month) on the collar and cuffs for a more substantial, menswear feel.  On the button and buttonhole bands, I used Pellon SF 101 for structure without stiffness.

When I make shirts out of voile or lawn, I prefer the sleeve placket given in the pattern - it feels more feminine to me.  But on this heavier fabric, I decided to do a tower placket, again more in keeping with a masculine feel.

And for topstitching the cuff, I used a little trick I'd noticed on some of Hubby's business shirts.  Rather than stitching all the way around, I stopped just short of that super bulky spot where everything comes together.

One of the items I "needed" this shirt to go with is that velveteen pencil skirt I made a while ago.  I LOVE how these work together.  The grey/blue of the chambray is the same as one of the background colors on the skirt.

And since what is important to me when I put together an outfit is the shoes and lipstick (truly!), here are the deets:

Shoes:  Frye Carson Pump in Charcoal
Lipstick:  NYX Perfect Red Matte Lipstick
"Statement" necklace:  Francesca's - the statement being that I'm cheap - or rather, that I prefer to spend my money on shoes
Earrings:  plain pearl studs

I played around with adding a belt, but I'm not so sure I love it.  What do you guys think:  belt, or no belt?  Because I went with the straight waistband (rather than curved) on the skirt, the waist is a bit big for me, so the belt helps in that regard, but I can't decide if I like how it looks.

And here's a little FYI for you:  I've worn this pencil skirt a time or two already and discovered something that did not occur to me when I made it:  if you don't put a vent in your skirt, you can't pull it up over your hips if you have to pee!  Aaack!  I found that out the hard way!  You have to take the whole skirt down like you would pants.   Did you guys know that?

Up tomorrow:  weekend Archer #2, which I'm actually wearing today!