The front is pretty classic, the back has two nice long curvy darts (which is why it fits so nice and why I wear the original so often).
If you'd have told me six months or a year ago that I could make a button-down fitted shirt I'd have said you were crazy. However, after months of reading pattern drafting books and experimenting with little things here and there I have apparently gained some useful skills.
I used a rub-off technique to copy one of my favorite purchased button down shirts that I wear all the time. The rub-off results in a paper pattern which you can then use to make another shirt. The rub-off part went pretty smoothly and then I laid out all my sewing books and slowly made one piece at a time. This was my first time actually sewing a collar, collar stand, cuffs, plackets, and real buttonholes that have to work. :) I have to say that everything went very well and nothing was all that difficult - maybe I was more mentally intimidated than I needed to be. I even managed to set in two very nice fitted sleeves. Wa-hoo!
Collar:
Sleeve Cuff:
The original shirt was long sleeved but I made this one elbow-length and added a curvy detail and decorative button to the cuff.
It didn't go absolutely perfectly - the buttonholes are a tad off center in their placket and the bottom hem is a tad curvier than the original due to a mistaken adjustment in the draft - but overall I am extremely pleased with it. My first attempt at sewing 'real' clothes was a comedy of errors during the construction process so I was very happy when the construction of this shirt went so smoothly and I didn't need the seam ripper every other minute. Since I wear the original shirt all the time this should be a handy addition to my closet.
Post Edited: Can you find my error? I found one after wearing it a few times. Ladies shirts are supposed to button the other way around...right over left, not left over right. Interestingly enough, the original shirt is also buttoned as a mans shirt (which explains why I didn't catch the error while sewing). So, my favorite shirts from Ralph Lauren are either buttoned up wrong or they are actually a men's shirt. I've had them for eons and I don't usually buy Ralph Lauren so I'm guessing they were a purchase at the Polo Outlet Store from a trip right after we were married. I think the Outlet Store sells one-offs and rejects, so that would explain why the button placket is backwards. Funny the things you discover later on.... Anyhow, I've learned my lesson to pay closer attention to button plackets and I don't think anyone but a seamstress would notice when I'm wearing it out and about! :)
Next up will likely be a quilt project...
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