It's a Man's Shirt World

I need shirts, especially white ones. I checked the contents of the wardrobe recently and my old white shirts are distinctly grey. While I should be putting my head down and working on SWAP 13, there are more immediate dressing needs. Anyway, I included a few white shirts in the SWAP collection so I can kill two birds with one stone. One's already completed in broiderie anglaise for Audrey, the next one will be for Katherine.

In my Annie Hall moments I love to wear DH's shirts - loose, baggy, gorgeously soft cotton and why can't I have shirts like his?

So, talking of white shirts I made a striped one.....yeah yeah I know, and I'm supposed to be sewing with a plan - LOL

Great with jeans at weekends and would probably be OK with smart navy trousers too; I'd even try this with my white linen wide legged pants when the season is right - very resort!

The pattern is the same as the broiderie anglaise version except this time I sort of stuck to the original design and didn't add any shaping darts or alteration to the sleeves. I did however add a flowery quilting cotton at the cuffs, collar stand and inside centre front for interest and colour, and I think, to feminise the shirt a bit.

 This is a straightforward shirt: it has two piece sleeves that makes for an easy placket-free vent at the cuff. The centre fronts are folded back on themselves so need for interfacing, however, in this case I cut my button fronts separately, cutting one on the bias for the stripes and the underneath one in the quilting cotton. Then just sewed these to the fronts and made up as per the original pattern instructions.



 I did tinker about with the cuffs - the pattern has straight forward single cuffs with one button - I doubled the length of the cuffs and made them into fold back ones secured with button cufflinks. On one side is the stripy shirt fabric and on the other the quilting cotton. The button cufflinks would work just as well with single cuffs too.

Here's how to make button cufflinks to add that little bit of personality to your shirts.

I raised the shoulder/arm hole too as the shirt was looking a bit too much like one of Dh's. This makes it just a bit more fitted and looks like it belongs to me rather than if I'd borrowed it. although I am buttoning to the right - that's men's isn't it?

I think this might just be the first shirt I've ever worn that doesn't need a safety pin at the bust - know what I mean?






















So, it's not white and not part of SWAP 13 but to quote Syndi from Stitchers' Guild - "There's no sewing police!"