summer stitching

butterick 5891

Much gratitude for hours of studio time.

Blessed luxurious studio time.

An allowing for slowing down,

stitching new work,

sampling new patterns,

playing with fabric,

taking a nap.

I've been working on samples

for future Butterick patterns 

and in the midst of it all 

I grabbed the opportunity for some play,

making a shirt/jacket

for an upcoming New York trip.

front collar

Wanting something fresh,
made of natural fibers,

that would work for cool and warm,

I found a piece of linen in grey

with shots of silver metallic.

Nothing like a little bling for the east coast.

  I wanted to give the shirt's surface a little 'bump' and

I had the thought that I would do some hand-painting.

(Thanks Diane Ericson for your smashing shirts

using this pattern which inspired me!)

With some large fabric scraps remaining

I had plenty of surface to practice on.
 

back butterick 5891

But alas, it was not to be.

Every painted bit was unsatisfactory.

I could not get what I wanted or anything I liked.

collar detail with stitching and added selvage edge

As I started stitching the pieces together

(with a bit of regret and disappointment I'll admit)

I was inspired by the selvage edges

that I'd decided to expose down the back seam.

What if I held the exposed selvage down

with my 'cardiac' stitch?
 

back seam and collar before construction

As one thing always leads to another,

the surface stitching began to wander.

It wandered onto the collar,

where I decided to insert some of that cool selvage edge

under the fold-over facing.

 

collar with stitching and added selvage

 

It wandered all around the collar

on the seamline where the collar 

meets the body of the shirt.
 

back stitching on collar/body seamline

 

It wandered onto the sleeves and sleeve hems.

I wondered if I could used it to hold the hem down?

(Yes it did, 

and, I hand stitched the hem in place as well.)

right sleeve hem stitching detail

left sleeve stitching detail

The stitches wandered down the front

and across to the other side.

front stitching details

stitching over selvage insert detail

Another bit of selvage inserted in left front seam

reminds me of a pocket.

However, in this pattern the pockets 

are inserted in the side seams.

pockets detail

They got some stitching too.

I was having so much fun!

buttonhole detail

The clear buttons with dots came from Paris

and worked perfectly in pairs

with my easy double buttonhole.

 

Make one long buttonhole slightly larger

than you need for two buttons.

Tack the center down before you cut

and voila, an easy solution

for a nice button detail.

 Over the shoulder the line goes.

Adding just the 'bump' I wanted 

with subtlety and grace. 

I do as much of the cardiac stitching as possible 

when the pieces are flat;

for example the sleeves, the fronts, the back.

Then, as I add more lightening stitching 

after I've attached different pieces together;

for example the collar and pocket detail.

A couple of changes I made to the pattern:

1. I added 3-1/2 inches to the length. 

2" on the 'add length here' line and 1-1/2" at the hem.
2. I cut down the flare at the side 

by trimming 1-1/2 inches from the lower side edge, 

grading to nothing at the waist.

 

Happy stitching, creating, playing!