Life is too short to sew with cheap fabric.
~ The Voice of Experience (Sigh... )
I'm hoping to get to see my Grandmother soon and so I decided to finish a flannel shirt that I started for her a long time ago.
I've made many flannel shirts for her with this pattern:
I have made all the adjustments to this pattern that she needs - she wears a small in the shoulders and a medium from the bust down. And the sleeves are pretty significantly shortened.
She loves flannel shirts - that is all she ever wears - and, for all that she says that she'll love anything I make for her, she is actually very particular about the colors. The number one requirement is red. The number two requirement is blue.
I've long since used all the red and blue flannel that I can find in local stores and resorted to buying some online. It is red and blue. Whether or not it actually qualifies for the label "flannel" however, is questionable.
This turned out to be really cheap fabric. I am not enjoying working with it and I hate giving her anything made out of this fabric. :(
Anyways, it's what I've got on hand and so I am going to finish it. In addition to the cheap feel of the fabric, it doesn't hold its shape, and so getting the plaids to line up is, at best, a pain in the neck - and often impossible... :(
The issues really started with the pockets - with flannel shirts I always try to line up the pockets - first I look where the pattern piece falls relative to the horizontal and vertical lines on the shirt front...
...and then I place it in the same place on the scrap of fabric before cutting it out.
Anyways, I got the front and back (including pockets and yoke) assembled - you can see how the plaids kind of line up - but not really...
Ditto on the side seams:
To be fair, you can't really get the plaids to line up perfectly along the yoke, because the pattern calls for 2 small pleats on each side of the main back piece. At least I got them kind of lined up (vertically) in the middle of the back.
As for the horizontal - let's not get into that... :(
Oliver commiserated with me the whole time I was working on it this weekend.
I think that's a look of commiseration on his face, isn't it? ;)
Anyways, I hope you had a wonderful sewing weekend! (with good quality fabric!)
It's fun learning all the 'exceptions' to I'll love whatever you make, isn't it ?! But, it's great, once you do, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteLook again - I think he's saying 'better you than me' ! :-)
Hey Claire,
DeleteI was prepared for a couple of minor exceptions to the "whatever you make" statement, but it was more like "as long as it fits into this narrow category" and that caught me by surprise! ;)
Hmmm... Now that you mention it, you may be right about Oliver's expression... ;)