A project I didn't need to do

 So, somewhat recently, Rachel Maksy posted a video on YouTube wondering if pillow cases could provide enough fabric to make clothing, and the answer is, yes, surprisingly.

Now.

I absolutely do not need to look at yardage alternatives--like sheets or curtains or tablecloths or pillowcases--to bulk up my fabric stash.

But.

The idea of the challenge of using limited, discontinuous yardage, like pillowcases, was intriguing.

And.

Thanks to the massive destash of the relative's fabrics Nata brought a few years ago (thanks again!), I had two vintage pillowcases on hand.

However.

These were the kind of vintage sheet sets with way more polyester than I generally want to use (a 50/50 poly cotton blend), and that meant I didn't want to put a lot of time into the project.

So.

I grabbed McCall's 5675 from 1977 (which I have made several more times than have been recorded on this blog) and threw this together

(of course I modified it as I went...)

All the times I've made McCall's 5675 before, I used the skinny bias tie neckline option in view C--since bias eats up yardage, I figured that would be ill-advised for this project and hoped there would be enough fabric to make the wide tie of view B.  And there was!

Another limitation on the yardage here: the print is directional...which didn't turn out to be a whole lot of problem, but I'm glad I noticed it before I started cutting...

 The tie is not interfaced at all, but this poly cotton still ended up being a bit bulky when tied.  I definitely want to make this view again sometime with good fabric and see if the tie behaves any better.

I did cut the sleeve bands on the bias, but I still should have extended them just a bit.  As they are, they're a bit...snug.

I attached them the same way I did on the previous shirt, by pressing them in half, then pressing under one edge, before sewing, right side raw edge to wrong side raw edge of gathered sleeve edge while still flat, leaving about two inches on each end unsewn.  Then the sleeve is sewn to the flat armscye, the sleeve and side seam sewn before sewing the ends of the band together, finishing the stitch to the sleeve edge, then the pressed-under side brought around to encase the seam allowance and edge stitched from the outside.

Well, I mean, I meant to do that on both sleeves.  I kinda forgot some of that on the first sleeve I attached and had to compensate.

Another issue with using vintage pillowcases is that they have decades-old fold line damage that is often unavoidable.  I just sorta...made sure that wasn't centered anywhere.

I sewed the lower hem with the 3/16" hem roller and not a lot of care.  I don't plan to ever wear this shirt without a jumper over it, so it's fine.  That's why I didn't mind the limited yardage encouraging me to make it so much shorter than the pattern wants.

Neckband also got a "press one seam allowance under before sewing the unpressed edge to the inside of the neck opening, then edge stitch everything from the outside" treatment.

This is one of the patterns for which I made a bell sleeve pattern piece many years ago, and I'm not sure if I need to decrease the size of the sleeve cap some, or if it's just part of the terribleness of polyester that made things "fit" so dubiously.

And the back

This pattern goes together so quickly that I can't hate this shirt, even if the poly cotton blend gives me texture issues.  I am glad it was an excuse to try another neckline option, because I like the bias tie so much I may never have tried it without such limited yardage.  We'll see how far I get through the pile of other patterns I want to sew before I decide, nah, I'm gonna sew another McCall's 5675...