More from the Mouse's Kingdom

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.

~ Winnie the Pooh

What a difference it makes, not feeling stressed out and overwhelmed!  Over the weekend, I had assorted half-an-hour-heres and 30-minutes-theres, but instead of collapsing on the sofa in front of the TV (or adding items to my list of things to do!), I used that time to work on a Mickey Mouse shirt for the son of a friend of mine.    

I dug up a pattern from my stash – it has that style of front facings that extends up to the shoulder seam, which is not particularly my favorite style of shirt facing.  But I decided that this was an opportunity to improve a weak sewing skill.  Plus, of course, I recognized that it would be a waste of money to buy another pattern.  #beingnoble

Oh, okay, you got me – I was impatient, didn’t have time to run out to my local Joann’s at that particular moment, and just wanted to get started!  #hopeyourehappynow

(Look at me using hashtags!  Am I hip, or what?)  #lameoldperson

Anyways, I did use the opportunity to try a “trick” for finishing the raw edge of the facing that I learned from you guys!    

Typically, you just fuse the interfacing to the facing and then finish the raw edge, right?  Not this time! 

First I laid the back (non-fusible side) of the interfacing to the right side of the shirt, thusly:  

Then I stitched along the outer edge, such that, when you open out the interfacing, it looks like this:  

Then I folded over the interfacing so that the fusible side was against the wrong side of the fabric and ironed.  See how the outer edge is now finished?  

The last step, of course, is to fold and iron the interfaced facing to the inside of the shirt, as below:  

I really love this “trick” – it looks way better than what I get when I follow the official instructions.  Thanks!  :)

The last bit I was able to finish was the pocket.  As always, the choice must be made between picking a dramatic image for the pocket and preserving the integrity of the images on the underlying shirt fabric.  

I went for the dramatic image – possibly a mistake, given the interrupted Mickey images on either side of the pocket.  But, whatever…  My friend’s son is 3 – I don’t think he’s going to get too upset.  ;)

Hopefully I’ll be able to finish this over the weekend and get back to my own top!  As a cost savings measure, management at work has set the thermostat controlling the building’s air conditioning to 100° F and I definitely need more sleeveless work tops!