It's Just Further Evidence

Thank you all for your kind, encouraging, and accepting comments on my last post! I'll be honest, my heart was pounding just the tiniest bit when I clicked the "publish" button. Even though past posts have never been greeted with anything other than graciousness, it's always nerve-wracking sharing something so personal. I didn't expect such an outpouring of love in the comments, and I was so, so, touched by what you all shared in return. I really want to respond to each and every one of you, but it'll take me a while, so I just wanted to say a general (but still heartfelt) thank you first. You guys reaffirm my belief in the loveliness of the sewing blogger community!

Also, I appreciate all of the early birthday wishes, and I'm sorry if it was confusing, but my birthday's not until the first week of December. I will save your well-wishes for that day! And if any of you awesome, geeky sewasauruses out there are making hobbit costumes for the movie, well, we can do an unofficial sewalong and round-up and I will be so happy to know that there are other people out there getting dressed up with me!

You can bet I'll be posting here about the party details as I prep and craft, but this won't turn into a party prep blog by any means. Sewing is still my obsession -- not party planning. Also, in order to have those immaculately turned out themed birthday parties, I'm pretty sure one needs to have a gaggle of small adorable human beings in attendance. I've just got the one cat. He could give those SHBs a run for their money in adorable-ness, though.

Why am I covered with plush breakfast items? Since when are sushi and burnt turkey legs part of a second breakfast?

(And speaking of omphaloskepsis, I found this article fascinating. It's been a while since I did a link round-up, and now I'm trying to make up for missing three months' worth of links with an article about the bacteria in your bellybutton?!)

What Sewing's Done For Me

[I thought for a long time about whether I wanted to share this, but in the spirit of unnecessarily pouring one's heart out to teh interwebs, I'll go ahead.]

It's a little less than a month until my birthday, which means it time for some oof-I'm-getting-older-again omphaloskepsis. And since this is a (mostly) sewing blog, some of the following thoughts might even be sewing related! Somewhat. But no actual sewing happens, so if that's all you're looking for, move along.

Now that I've put up the disclaimer, can I just say, how perfect is it that the Colette Patterns blog just threw out the weighty question, "Has sewing helped you to dress the body you have rather than the body you wished you had?" I feel like this last year has been huge for my growth as a person, and sewing has been an integral part of it.

When I first started dabbling in this hobby, I can't say that I ever expected to confront my body image issues, or learn just how quirky my sense of style is, or even meet people from all over the world. And while Sarai was really asking more about the relationship with one's physical body, I want to say that I feel ever so grateful to sewing for helping me accept the inner person I actually am, rather than the person I sometimes wish I was. See, besides wasting time wishing my legs were skinny like other Asian girls, I've also wasted a fair amount of time wishing I was more of a "normal girl."

introvertcat.tumblr.com

I've always had a hard time making friends and making sense of social situations (I'm terrible at reading body language and facial expressions, or telling what actions or types of statements are socially appropriate). It took me many years of observing my very typical female friends who were socially apt before I figured out how to mimic normal social interaction. Even now, I'm not great at it; I have mental scripts for how to behave when meeting new people, but if the situation deviates too much or goes on too long I get panicky and start detaching. I'm incredibly clumsy, get lost in imaginary worlds quite often, and once I've focused in on a task it's almost impossible for me to leave it alone (mentally, at least, since sometimes physically moving on is necessary) until I've completed it. I've always had obsessive interests and voraciously gathered information about those topics, to the bewilderment of others. It wasn't until I went to college and learned about autism spectrum disorders, though, that I realized that I wasn't just some horrible misfit. When I first learned about adults with Asperger's, it was a huge relief to know that I wasn't alone, that other women had the same experiences. I don't know if I would go so far as to self-diagnose myself as an aspie, but gosh, it's nice to just have an idea about what might be wrong with me sometimes! At the very least, I feel slightly more okay with not being as emotionally and socially adept as women are typically supposed to be.

But only with cats. 

Anyway, all this to say, this whole sewing-my-own-clothes is just the most recent (and incidentally, the most long-lasting) of my obsessive interests. Unlike dinosaurs and Arctic exploration, though, sewing's actually brought me out of my shell, rather than burying me deeper inside my own brain and my books. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the whole sewing community -- for you other bloggers I follow, who post so honestly about what you're doing and thinking (whether sewing-related or not!), for those of you who take the time to read and comment on my blog, and for those sewlebrities that post detailed tutorials on sewing techniques (because the learning and fact-gathering must continue for my brain to feel alive) -- it's so hard for me to make connections with people in real life sometimes, that I've been beyond thrilled at how quickly I feel like I've made friends with other sewasauruses out there. And if that feeling only goes one way, by all means, please don't tell me and burst my bubble.

picture

I was telling my friends Shayna and Elaine, who are both lovely, kind, patient ladies who have done so much for my emotional development (and been so encouraging when it comes to sewing with bedsheets and dressing up for events), that what I find so safe about the sewing blogger community is that 1) we already have an eccentricity in common (not that I'm saying sewing is weird...just not mainstream!), so I don't need to be afraid of rejection for being so obsessed with sewing, and 2) it's online! I don't have to wonder about whether I'm supposed to hug to say hello, or if a handshake will do, I don't need to make awkward eye contact and small talk about the weather while wishing I could just run away and hide and squeeze Walnut...I can engage on my own terms, or not, and when I'm overwhelmed I can step away for a bit without looking unspeakably rude. Because interaction's not happening in real time, I can think carefully about what I want to say so I don't put my foot in my mouth (at least not most of the time).

You know how Anne of Green Gables talks about how rare and special it is to meet people who are of the race of Joseph, i.e. dreamers and kindred spirits like her? I feel like in the last year or so, I've "met" more lovely people who happen to be sewasauruses, who I feel understand me and that I connect with, than I have in my whole life previously. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration (but only a little bit!), but it's really so rare for me to feel like I want to actually get to know someone better (beyond a discussion about the weather, or maybe cats, if they're amenable), or that someone might *gasp* even want to know me better, or read what I have to say! I've moved so many times in the past few years, and every move has been a source of anxiety because I knew I would have to make a new set of friends. Sewing has brought me the kind of delightfully geeky community that I always wanted, but didn't know I wanted, and didn't even know was possible, and it doesn't matter where I move to because you all live inside my computer, right? So for all of that, I'm forever grateful.

I've seriously never felt so comfortable in my own skin, so free to be myself and not have to pretend to be someone else or apologize (unless actually necessary) for who I am. And because of that, I finally feel somewhat comfortable with saying I want to purposely put myself into a large social gathering throw myself a birthday party this year. I know this might not seem like a big deal to some people, but it's kind of huge for me. I mean, it's not going to be a birthday month celebration culminating in a prom with people sewing fancy dresses around the world (I love that Oona did that, btw!) or anything, but doing anything for my birthday besides having dinner with Mr. Cation and Walnut would have been unthinkable for me a couple of years ago. Despite the anxiety I still have about asking people to come celebrate me (gosh, how self-centered does that sound? what if nobody wants to come? what if they do come and it's a super awkward party and everyone has a miserable time?), I've decided that gosh darn it, I'm going to have the Tolkien-themed party that I always wanted. Yes, it's incredibly geeky, and most of my IRL friends probably don't have elven cloaks lying around for dressing up in, but there's no reason not to, right?


TL;DR: Sewing has put me in touch with other fantastic ladies around the world whose virtual friendship I'm incredibly grateful for, and somehow that's made me feel empowered enough to have a birthday party? Oh, and if you've met me IRL before, or meet me at some time in the future, thank Shayna and Elaine for teaching me how to not be as unwittingly obnoxious and clueless as Sheldon Cooper or BBC's Sherlock.

Thank You, McCall's 6610

I MADE REAL PANTS. Let me say it again: I sewed myself some wearable, non-elastic waistband, fly-front, they-make-my-legs-look-pretty-dang-awesome trousers. Not shorts, not capris, but real live honest-to-goodness pants! You guys, I am seriously so excited about these pants that I can hardly pull my thoughts together enough to write coherently. I mean, I originally intended these to be a muslin for the new McCall's 6610 (so new that I'm the first reviewer on Pattern Review!), but when they turned out well enough to wear out in public, well, I was just over the moon!

Okay, so I can't quite jump over the moon, but these pants really do allow crazy jumping!

Even better, not only are they presentable, they're ultra comfy, too. I guess that's what happens when your pants fit your body properly? It's time for a confession: usually when I get home from work or errands or whatever, I change as soon as I can into knit lounge-wear; in fact, one of my gripes about entertaining in my own home is that I can't just wear whatever, I have to actually look presentable. To that end, I have a lot of maxi skirts with elastic waists so that I can just flop around on the floor without being 1) uncomfortable, and 2) indecent. Well, with these pants, they're not restricting at all, despite looking fitted, and the slightly stretchy lightweight cotton is surprisingly soft. The fact that they're so high-waisted also means that I don't have to worry about back-gaping or muffin-topping. Which means that I don't feel the need to change out of these pants immediately; they're both comfy and decent enough to lounge and entertain and go out in!

Front: looks real!

Side: looks real!

Back: looks real! Errr, except until you notice how high the pockets are...

Maybe I'm only imagining that my pants
make me look like Audrey Hepburn ,
but a girl's got to dream, right?

Which actually brings me to my biggest beef with this pattern: even though I love the crotch curve draft, even though the instructions for sewing the fly front were amazingly simple and easy to follow, the rise of these pants is nothing at all like the pattern envelope models. Do I just have an astonishingly short crotch depth? Is it even a crotch depth issue? I don't know enough about pants to know. The yoke also seems much taller than on my favorite RTW jeans, but that can't be all of the problem, as the yoke starts where my RTW jeans waistband ends. On the McCall's model(s), it looks like the waistband should end slightly below the bellybutton -- higher than I would like, but still doable. On me, the waistband totally covers my bellybutton in front, and goes even higher in the back! I mean, there are high-waisted pants, and there are High-Waisted Pants. These put me in mind of Audrey Hepburn's famous high-waisted cigarette pants, which is not a bad thing, but just not what I expected from this pattern. The pockets are too high for me to access comfortably, too. As long as I wear a top that covers the waist, it doesn't look obviously high-waisted, but it's just a little weird.

You see? Under the shirt hides a ridiculously high waist!

Besides the high-risedness of this pattern, I also had issues with the leg width. That wasn't hard to deal with; it was just that I ended up taking the side seams in by over two inches to get the look I wanted, so it's still definitely worth a mention. I know they're advertised as straight-leg, not fitted, pants, but the way they look on the pattern envelope threw me off. Moral of the story: don't trust the models or the pattern illustrations.

Another place not to trust the directions: they instruct you to press and topstitch the back yoke the wrong way! My topstitching doesn't match at the crotch, but I decided that I didn't care enough to fix it. The insides are just pinked since these were originally just going to be a muslin, but the outside looks fine! I mean, fine aside from the huge yoke and un-shaped waistband. 

My last big adjustment was taking in the waist quite a bit. I originally cut a size 12, but my final waist and leg seam lines were probably more along the lines of what would be a 4. Also, the waistband is just a big long rectangle, instead of a more reasonable contour waistband. I understand that a rectangle is easier to draft/cut and saves more fabric, but I feel like it's pretty lazy on the part of the pattern-makers. I ended up making huge makeshift darts at the sides, but even then the final fit isn't quite perfect. Anyway, these waist-fitting issues make me think seriously about investing in a Thurlow pattern, since Tasia drafts for the pear-shaped woman. The scrooge in me thinks "Well, I already bought this pattern (for only $0.99!), I should just redraft the top to make it work for what I have in mind, especially since I already fitted the crotch," but the I-want-to-support-independent-artists side of me thinks I should just splurge on a Thurlow and go through the whole muslining process again. Thoughts?

Summary:
Fabric: A little less than 2 yards of dark blue cotton with a slight stretch (the same as my nautical shorts and my 1912 skirt!), a little bit of cotton voile for the pocket linings (the same as my 1912 blouse!)
Notions: A metal jeans zipper, hooks and bars for the waistband
Techniques: Putting in a fly-front, pants fitting
Hours used: Eight? I lost track after a while.
Will you make it again? I could happily wear multiple colors and fabrics of these pants (albeit probably with a lower rise) and never get tired of them. I've got 3 yards of coral stretch twill in my stash; is it too late in the year to be making bright skinny jeans?
Total cost: $3!!! $1/yd for the fabric, $0.50 for the zipper, and the hooks and bars and thread make up the last $0.50, if that.
Final thoughts: I've written before about how I have a love-hate relationship with my legs and how thick they are (especially compared to other Asians); that, and my relatively tiny waist make pants-shopping kind of a horrible experience for me. And even though I love the look of skinny, tapered pants, they usually make my thighs look huge. Oh, and let's not forget the one time I tried on a pair of skinny jeans and almost got stuck in them because I couldn't pull out my burly calves. Anyway, all this to say, when I find a pair of pants that fit well and look good, it's a minor miracle. As of yesterday, I had only two pairs of (non-knit and non-elastic-waistband) pants that I actually wear regularly, both several years old, because I couldn't find decent replacements/additions. With this pair, my pants wardrobe has just grown by 50%! And not to mention that these are incredibly flattering and totally boost my confidence. If I sound like I'm in love with these pants, it's because I am. So, McCall's 6610, even though you kind of suck as a pattern in some major ways, I am forever indebted to you for your easy fly-front instructions that enabled me to make these magically delicious pants.

Oh, and that top? It's another dolman-sleeve top, made from $1/yd printed cotton knit from Fabric Planet. I love the moody gray skies and the random blue wings -- I call it my Rinoa Heartilly top, which you'll understand if you've ever played Final Fantasy VIII. So this means that my whole outfit was $1/yd, me-made, and reminds me of awesome ladies. Gosh, sometimes I just love being able to sew so much!

R&RtRTW: Travel to Work Dress

It's been a while since I did something about my Remaking and Replacing the RTW project, mostly because I took a knit-busting detour. This dress is a polyester knit that I've had for several years, just waiting for the perfect project pairing, so technically it still counts as knit-busting!

Comparison: RTW on the left, me-made on the right.

One of my favorite teacher dresses is this black-and-white geometric patterned dress that I got at Ross my very first year of teaching. It's fitted and flattering, the flowy skirt is long enough to cover my knees, the cap sleeves are tiny enough that I can fit a cardigan over it for cold days, and I pull it out every time I feel like I need to look my best (parent-teacher conferences and back to school nights and open houses!). Now that I'm traveling for work, I've come to appreciate this dress even more; since it's polyester, it doesn't wrinkle and I can still look professional and put together even after napping on a flight, or stuffing it into my luggage. Normally I frown on artificial fibers, but in this case they're a blessing.

These pictures were taken post-travel. The dress had been slept in, traveled in, and stuffed into a suitcase. 

To make my copy of the dress, I knew I wanted a similarly hardy material, so this polyester knit was perfect. My only gripes with it are that 1) the splashes of light blue make it ever so slightly less practical for pairing with everything in my wardrobe (but it does make the dress slightly more fun!), and 2) there's a lot more white space, so you can see the print coming through on the top layers. But both of those issues are extremely minor; I still love my final dress and think it does a pretty good job of being everything I love about the original RTW dress. My pattern was just traced from the original dress, too, so I was pretty sure I would love it. Because I had limited fabric, I had to make the cap sleeves part of the bodice instead of cutting out separate pieces. Even then, squeezing the giant wrap skirt pieces out of my 2.5 yards was a challenge in spatial reasoning! I also left out the collar of the original dress, as that's actually the only part of it I don't like.

Here's a brief fake-torial for what I did:

This is slightly simplified -- I added bust darts to my pattern, but they're totally not necessary. If you already have a  TNT fitted t-shirt pattern, you can just use that for the bodice pieces. Just draw a diagonal line from the shoulder seam to the waist to make the front pieces. For the skirt pieces, you can just sketch an arc of the appropriate length and then draw the sides to get a curved trapezoid-type piece. The more curvy your arc and the more slanted your trapezoid sides, the fuller the skirt will be. For the waist seam, since my machine doesn't do a triple-stitch zig-zag, I was afraid of the fabric tunneling, so I added a piece of elastic to stabilize the seam a bit. 

Here's a closer look at the insides: my tacked together bodice with the faux-binding, and the waist seam reinforced with elastic to keep it from getting stretched out too much. 

Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 yards of polyester stretch knit with large modern floral in black/light blue on a white background (from my first big fabric haul at SAS Fabrics in Tucson!)
Notions: less than a yard of 1/4" elastic
Techniques: Tracing a RTW piece of clothing to make a pattern
Hours used: Figuring out the pattern and arranging the cutting layout on my piece of fabric took a good two hours, but actually sewing up the dress only took another two. Pretty good for an evening's worth of work!
Will you make this again? I want to try it again but with the wrap giving more coverage in the bust area. Also maybe remaking it as an actual wrap dress, and not just a faux-wrap. It's definitely a classy work-horse type dress, though, so I foresee similar-looking iterations in the future!
Total cost: I bought this fabric so long ago, I don't even know...but knowing SAS's prices, I'm guessing it couldn't have been more than about $5. The original dress was $19.99 at Ross, but even that was discounted from the department store price of $39.99.
Final thoughts: I'd say this is pretty darn successful! The dress is pretty much everything I wanted/needed it to be, and it passed the wearing-IRL test. Even though the original RTW dress isn't anywhere near ready to be retired, it's nice to have a me-made twin to add to the rotation.

Serious twirling face + the dangers of wrap dresses. Good thing I made the wrap panels so wide!

Since I'm Not Dressing Up for Halloween...

I'll totes be a crazy cat lady and dress up my cat instead.

Although I guess a scarf hardly qualifies as "dressing up." Can you guess who he's supposed to be?

Mr. Cation and I love Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock. And because we are in love with Walnut and think he's the awesomest ever, of course we see him as our favorite consulting detective.

I mean, aren't most cats more or less high-functioning sociopaths?

And of course, I had to include this quote, because I'm definitely Walnut's blogger.

Awww, the feeling's mutual, cat. Happy dress up day, everyone!

Matching Couple Shirts: the Lady Version

After I made up this plaid fabric into a shirt for my husband, I still had plenty left over for a shirt for me. I've never made a real button-down shirt for myself before (the 1912 one hardly counts), and I have dreams of a perfect floaty white blouse to go with my Leonora shorts. In order to make that happen, though, I need to find the right blouse pattern. I figured that this plaid fabric, being only $1/yd and all, would be the perfect muslin fabric, but my pattern of choice, Simplicity 2246, aka the Lisette Traveler Dress, was not the perfect pattern. Boo. Mind, there's nothing wrong with the pattern as it is; it's just not the right pairing for this fabric. The Traveler Dress is meant to be made in a more drapey fabric, I think. Between the plaid and the stiffness of the fabric, my finished blouse reads more cowgirl than anything else. Of course, then I had to take that look a step further and pair the top with my faux riding boots.

Back view: the way the darts ended up, they make a neat optical illusion that there's actually some shaping going on at the waist. Also, ignore my lackluster ponytail. 

(Allow me to say at this point that I don't know anything about cows or what people actually wear to ride and rope them. I'm a city girl through and through; I've never "roughed it" in any way, shape, or form (not even going camping), nor do I plan to, ever. I'm sorry, but I just really like hot showers and indoor plumbing in general.) I guess that means that I did eventually fulfill the Sew Weekly "Worn Out West" challenge in the spirit of its original meaning, and not my geek interpretation...

I didn't bother with the pockets.

Anyway, I was originally clued into the Traveler Dress' existence by Andrea's fab versions, but after reading all the other write-ups on Pattern Review, I really should have figured out that the cut of this pattern was quite loose and shapeless.  Since my cotton shirting doesn't drape, it just looks boxy and weird. I ended up putting in a couple of huge fisheye darts into the back, but even then it's not very fitted. The sleeves are also a little loose, but I do like that that means I can roll them up comfortably. My only other gripe about this pattern is the weird all-in-one collar+collar stand. While it is quicker to sew, the resulting collar also doesn't fold over in quite the same way as a traditional one. Plus, it just looks weird to me that there's no break in the plaid? I don't even know. Also, I was running out of fabric, so I didn't cut a separate button placket on the bias like I wanted; I just extended the center front piece and did the foldover placket technique from Simplicity 7030 that I disliked so much.

See, doesn't that just look wrong somehow?

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of 60" wide, 100% cotton, blue windowpane plaid
Notions: Six small black buttons from my stash, from before I started sewing, so I don't remember where they're from.
Techniques: Flat-felled seams (I am really falling in love with this finish!), plaid matching
Hours used: Five
Will you make this again? Maybe. There are so many things I would change in this pattern, I'm thinking I should just find another blouse pattern that I like better. But if I ever find a snuggly piece of flannel, I am totally copying Andrea.
Total cost: $1.50 (I'm counting the buttons as free since I've had them for so long)
Final thoughts: I'm not sure if cowgirl is a good (or very convincing) look on me. Honestly, all I can think of is Jerry Dean Campbell from American Hoggers introducing his daughter, "This here my daaawwwter, Krystal Pistol Campbell..." But it looks cute on other bloggers, so I'll give it a try? Besides, this shirt is awfully comfy, probably because it is so loose. And I guess if we decide to, Mr. Cation and I can take the cheesiest Christmas couple photos ever. Maybe I can piece enough scraps together to make Walnut a bandanna, too...oh dear, somebody stop me.

How about I just settle for an awkward collage instead? Unfortunately, I couldn't get the colors to quite match since they were taken at different times and in different locations. 

Sadly, it is still too warm in TCOCC to wear this outfit, really. What is up with you, weather? It's almost November? See, this is why I can't take Sew Weekly challenges (like fall wardrobe colors?!) seriously.

My version of "I don't know what to do with my hands" is "I don't know what to do with my extremely pointy elbow."

I'm Not a Bad Wife Anymore!

Mr. Cation can finally join the ranks of the significant-others-of-sewasauruses-who've-had-button-down-shirts-made-for-them. 

Not that I thought I was a bad wife before, but it's just that I've been sewing for a year and some and still haven't made anything for Mr. Cation...until now! I had promised him I would sew him a shirt for his birthday; that was back in August and I only finished it last weekend. Unfortunately, while my intentions were good, my execution was lacking. While there's nothing technically wrong with this shirt, it's still just a wearable muslin.

"What do you want me to do? Where should I look?"

Pocket close-up. Mr. Cation was pretty adamant about the pocket not being but on the bias.
Unfortunately, the fabric was uneven/warped so I couldn't quite get the vertical stripes to line up. 

See, it started with my choosing a fabric that Mr. Cation wasn't thrilled about (he thinks it's too blue, the plaid is too ostentatious, and the general look is too much like a shirt that he had in junior high, and we all know what paragons of fashion those junior high school boys are, right? Yeah, not the best mental association.), but at $1/yd, I figured it would still be okay? I'm not sure how that worked out in my head. At any rate, the fabric choice was strike one.

Back view...you can kind of tell how much ease there is. 

Strike two was choosing a less than optimal pattern for a starting point: Simplicity 7030 was only $0.50 at the thrift store, but I probably should've done some more research before settling on it. How do I put this delicately: this pattern is made for large beefy males? Okay, I'm being facetious, but only slightly; even the smallest size was cut extremely generously. My husband is an average Asian guy and he likes his shirts to be slim-fit instead of with oh, ten-plus inches of ease in the torso. I ended up stitching down the two pleats on the back in order to eliminate some of that ease, but it still looks a little big. Also, the button placket is just a folded over extension of the front pieces, instead of being a separate placket cut on the bias. This isn't a deal breaker in and of itself, but it's just one of those RTW features that would have helped make this shirt look more professional. (Incidentally, the the shirt cuff design does not feature the standard RTW placket, which I found weird. Easier, maybe, but what guy really wears a shirt with a continuous sleeve placket?)

Okay, now you can really tell how much ease there is. 

Strike three would be my not doing good measurement comparisons with some of his favorite RTW shirts before sewing this up. I did measure the arms and torso and was able to foresee some changes there, but I didn't think to check the collar or armscye. As a result, the collar is simultaneously larger (higher in the back, more surface area to the folded over portion, overall less refined looking) and smaller (too tight to go around his neck comfortably) than he would like. The armscye is also much too low, which means that the sleeve is consequently too roomy. I did my best to bring in the sleeve towards the hem, but there was only so much I could do without making it look ridiculous. In the end, the sleeves still have a good extra two inches of ease on his best-fitting RTW shirt.

As long as he keeps his arms down, it looks normal?
But alas, clothes are made for wearing and living life in, not for standing around and looking good. 

Summary:

Every time I look at this collar, I get really happy. 

Fabric: 1.5 yards of 60" wide, 100% cotton, blue windowpane plaid shirting from the FIDM scholarship store
Notions: 7 small black Slimline buttons
Techniques: Plaid matching, flat felled seams (I am so proud of the fact that all my raw edges are totally enclosed!), and interfacing a collar and collar stand? Does that last one even really count as a technique? I thought about making a long-sleeved shirt and trying a cuff placket too, but decided against it; good thing I didn't invest any more time into this wearable muslin.
Hours: A season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I never watched it when it was on, but recently started because hello, Joss Whedon, how did I not make that connection before?? I am totally loving his strong female characters and witty dialogue so, so much, although I still do a mental double-take every time I see Willow, because all I can think is "What the heck is Lily Aldrin doing there?!"
Will you make this again? I'm itching to give this another try, because I really want my husband to have a me-made shirt that he can be proud of, but I think I'm going to have to be patient and wait until we find a fabric he genuinely likes, and not just go haring off and buy the first cheap cotton I lay my eyes on. Lesson learned -- Mr. Cation does not like excessively loud clothing (whether in color or size of plaid), unlike me.
Total cost: $2.75...at least it was a cheap learning experience.
Final thoughts: Personally, I don't think there's anything too horribly wrong with it; it looks about the same (to me) as any not-quite-perfect RTW shirt...but that's just the problem! This is a me-made shirt, not RTW. It should be perfectly tailored to fit him and his preferences, so even though I don't think it's that bad, it's not my opinion that counts. I think I have to remind myself that when I'm wearing something I made that doesn't quite fit or that isn't quite the right color, it's only the knowledge that well at least I made it for myself that keeps me wearing it somewhat proudly; with this shirt, if Mr. Cation doesn't feel comfortable and confident in it, it's only going to be the guilt of well my wife made it so I guess I have to wear it that brings it out of the closet. Which is pretty sub-optimal. So even though I don't feel the pressure of oh-gosh-his-birthday-was-months-ago-I-should-really-make-him-that-birthday-shirt anymore, I still want to make another one.

Confession time! My one mistake on this shirt: I got overeager and snipped the seam allowance that was supposed to be folded over for the flat-felled seams, so there's a tiny bit on the shoulder that's not enclosed. Oh well, I doubt it will fray much, given the amount of wear this shirt's likely to get. Other than that, though, looking at all my perfectly flat felled seams makes me so incredibly happy. 

Even though this shirt has so many things going against it, I'm actually still pretty pleased with myself for making it. I learned a lot (I've never made a real button-down shirt with a real collar before!), I know what changes I want to make for next time, and even if Mr. Cation doesn't wear this out ever again (he humored me and wore it to church once), it was a profitable learning experience. Also, I may or may not have enough fabric left over to make a shirt for myself...

One last goofy picture: Mr. Cation learns how difficult it is to pose when taking photos.
" I don't know what to do with my hands," à la Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights, a movie I've never actually seen.