Men's Flannel Shirt -- UNEDITED insomnia edition

Friends, this is what I look like at 2:48 am.  Not pretty but the tea is delicious (and if you squint I look like a gorilla in that picture, seriously).  Perhaps due to the excitement of my flannel shirt project, I am up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.  I can't even blame the dogs.  Happily, there's the blog.

The plaid flannel shirt is coming along well.  I should finish tomorrow, I mean today.  And now an endorsement.  As you know, MPB is an ad-free blog and anything I recommend I genuinely use.  I receive no compensation (if only).

But I am totally in like with my straight-stitch low-shank walking foot, which I purchased from Sew-Classic for about $20.  This thing works well, fits my Pfaff 30 perfectly, and let's face it, half of it is psychological: I sew better knowing that I've taken this precaution; it's like a sew-condom.  For $20, it's well worth it and you don't lose sensation.





And speaking of endorsements, after I mentioned blockfusing yesterday, clever Kiwi commentator Sherry put it in my head that I need a dry press, or a steam press, or an Elnapress, or -- well you get the idea -- and now I want one.

Question: Should I wait to stumble upon one at the thrift store for $4, buy a used one on eBay, or splurge for a new one on a site like Allbrands.com?  I know ten anonymous commentors are going to try to talk me out of it, but I think I'd use this if I had it and could figure out a) where to store it, and b) where to use it.

I'm leaning toward a dry press since I really want it to fuse interfacing as opposed to pressing shirts.  There's always the spray bottle if I need steam.  I've read a lot of posts on Pattern Review about these and most people have very positive things to say about them.

Now back to the shirt.  I have decided that one of my New Year's resolutions is to sew more slowly and carefully.  I tend to speed through projects and sometimes the quality of my work suffers.  I am trying to approach this flannel shirt project with more care and focus on getting the details right.  Plus, let's face it -- plaid's a bitch and slows you down regardless.

So far, I like it.  A few details:

Here's the left front button placket.  Still haven't made up my mind about buttons vs. pearl snaps, though I'm leaning toward buttons.



I decided to do my facings in black cotton sateen.  This is turned under and topstitched -- well, there's a tuck in there too but let's keep it simple.



I cut my back yoke on the bias and interfaced one side for a little more body.





I also used the black cotton sateen to make the inside collar stand.  Here you can see it from the outside before topstitching down the outside collar stand. 



I think it may be time for a men's shirt sew-a-long so I can discuss construction methods in greater detail.  How much lead time do you think we'd need -- a month?

I have a (growing) file of pics of my shirt construction here, though with all that plaid and a fabric that has no right or wrong side, it may be hard to grasp what I'm doing.

Here's how things looked as of quitting time:



Next up is topstitching my sleeve plackets.



Friends, has this ever happened to you?  I wanted to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich yesterday -- not something I often eat -- and I toasted my bread, a delicious sourdough from Trader Joe's and look:



I mean, honestly, no one loves yeast as much as I do, but isn't this kind of ridiculous?



I may have to flag down one of these next time it drives through town.

Rested readers, I must go back to bed or read or something.

In closing, do you own a walking foot and does it work for you?  Do you own a press and do you love it/use it/want to donate it to me?  If I did a men's shirt sew-along would you sew along?

And how about that bread?

I want to hear from you!