Doll Shirt

 Not, as might be expected from my sewing history, a shirt for dolls, but instead a shirt with a doll(ish) print.  It's a digital print based on Shelley Davies's Folk Art image, purchased from JoAnn.

I decided to use it for a button up shirt

a very busy button up shirt

I used McCall's 6613 again, this time taking a few minutes to trace off the sleeve pieces into one merged piece, since the original sleeves were made in two parts, but they weren't proper two part sleeves, since they're able to be sewn on flat (which of course I did.)

I also traced the sleeve in small, but made the rest in medium.  I like to do that so there's significantly less sleeve cap ease to deal with, and the small sleeves went into the medium armscye beautifully.  Behold, a "these fit so well that that I didn't even have to press the sleeve seam" picture:

I did forget that I should have shortened the body and sleeves by several inches.  Combining that with the way this is technically quilting fabric--very lightweight for quilting fabric, but still quilting fabric--and the fit is...odd.  I washed and dried this shirt after finishing it, hoping to make it softer.

I did my usual approach of pressing up the edges of things before sewing them to other things (where the instructions generally ask you to sew the thing to the other thing first, then press the edges.  I'd rather not have to deal with maneuvering the bulk of everything around the ironing board.)

And I did my usual way of wrapping the bottom of the placket around the bottom of the shirt, pressing the hem up first, but not yet stitching it, because the fronts weren't attached to anything else at that point, and encasing that pressed edge in the stitched and flipped placket end. It makes a clean finish that makes me  happy, but also makes it a hassle to shorten, which is why I'm leaving the shirt (too) long.

I had 2 yards at 45" of the main print, so I knew I'd need to bring in another fabric to have enough to make this shirt.  While I do think the prints coordinate well, my persistent refrain of "If you sew it together, it goes together" meant I didn't put a lot of thought into which print to use.  This black and white floral was chosen mostly because I didn't have much of it left, and this would use up a lot (previously seen inside this purse.)

The two-part construction of this pattern's sleeves has the cuff opening happening in the seam, with that finished by folding over and stitching the seam allowances.  I did a continuous lap placket in a slash placed where the seam would have been.

I honestly think the next time I make a shirt like this, I'm going to do tower plackets...well, maybe not proper tower plackets, because I don't have any pattern pieces for them and don't particularly want to follow directions to draft one (or give my information to the indie pattern site I saw that will share the placket pattern for free.)  I found some other tutorials for howto make two-piece plackets that look like tower plackets; I made a test and they seemed like a viable option. Someday.

I simply serged the side and sleeve seam allowances.

Maybe the future will hold french or felled seams for the sides, and the sleeve attaching method shared by Male Pattern Boldness (which requires slight amount of preparation instead of just attaching things in a different order.)

The yoke went together with the burrito approach, so all the seams are machine stitched and nicely concealed.

and the back

This shirt is A Lot, visually.  It was fun to make, but it may not have been the best decision, not only because I know that quilting fabric isn't good for shirts, but I did it anyway, but also because I honestly don't know what to wear it with.  The fact that it's summer heat season probably isn't helping.  I'll figure out out.