Starting

It's happening.

I AM going to make a shirt. I've been thinking and talking about it for too long.

What pushed me over the edge? Well, Etienne was talking about his decision to book a trip to climb Kilimanjaro and he said he kept thinking about this Buddhist saying, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” It really got to me. Making a shirt is certainly not "truth", but I do have to actually start something in order to make something.

I picked Simplicity 2696, view F to start out with - a pattern that seems fairly simply and a shape that I already wear. I bought this ocean blue shot cotton, but then thought I should maybe try it out (make a wearable muslin?) with some white fabric first. Or if that goes well, then I can use the blue for another style in this set.

I think that the sleeve and shirt lengths on view F are going to be too long, so I'm going to make 3/4 sleeves. Not sure if I should take off inches on the shirt length before or after. It comes all the way down to the crotch and I prefer it to hit at the hip.

Been reading a lot of clothing sewing blogs lately and decided that I would follow their leads and trace out my pattern size instead of cutting it directly from the pattern itself. That way, if I need a different size in the future then it will still be available on the pattern. And this style is pretty loose, so I might need a smaller size anyway.

I've never traced anything before. Kind of winged it with some giant white paper that I bought at the Pratt store, carbon tracing paper, and a chopstick. (This chopstick is officially part of my sewing kit. It's also perfect for poking out corners in fabric because of the rounded edge.)

And since I was on a roll, I went ahead and traced the pattern pieces for the Color Wheel Quilt. I used plastic for the main template since it was small enough to fit on the sheet and I would be cutting out so many more of those pieces than the rest.

Comments

[Susannah]

I hope your shirt endeavor goes well for you! I've been holding onto an Amy Butler pattern for over a year...I just bought a serger this past weekend so maybe it's time to give it a go! I use an old skinny paintbrush with the bristles cut off for my 'poking stick'...I don't think I could sew without it!
Can't wait to see the shirt!

[louise reynen]

hello there...

...have followed your twitters about sewing your top

...my project had been neglected & you've given me inspiration

...will be checking back in for some more of that

thank you

louise reynen