Sewing with Cotton Eyelet: Fact & Fiction

Readers, now that Michael's cotton eyelet shirt is behind me, I am ready to tackle rayon knit, one of the other fabrics Michael chose for his summer ensemble last month (see below).



I've noticed this rayon tends to clump like cooked spinach.  I'm trying not to let that discourage me.

I thought I'd spend one more day addressing my cotton eyelet project.  The truth about this unusual fabric is that while it is lacy in appearance, the cotton itself is a bit coarse and the embroidery is thick.  I was very concerned about bulk and tried my best to reduce it by carefully trimming seam allowances, keeping interfacing to a minimum, and avoiding enclosed seams.

I took this photo before retracting my rotary cutter blade: DO NOT DO THIS.

I toyed with the idea of making my front facings from a somewhat lighter fabric, but since the eyelet has holes, anything underneath it would show through to some extent.  So I ended up using the eyelet for the facings; it's a little thick but OK.  I interfaced the front left facing with transparent silk organza to give the buttonholes extra strength.  (I may hand stitch the facings down too, though they're not troublesome as-is.)





Yesterday someone asked about my vintage plastic buttons.  I had two different reds in my stash; Michael chose the deeper one.





I used the wide selvage for my cuffs.  (You can see how wide it is in the pic below; it was that way on both sides.)  I didn't want lacy cuffs on this shirt, and the fabric was too thick to make attractive sleeve plackets out of.

Notice thick selvage...

I gathered the sleeve rather than make pleats.  Not a fan of pleated sleeves.



My armscye and side seams are stitched and serged.  I stitched down the armsyce seam allowance for a flat-felled seam look.







All told, I think cotton eyelet is great for a summer shirt.  It's not as light as, say, cotton voile, but the holes do provide ventilation.   The most frustrating thing about THIS cotton eyelet is how difficult it is to photograph accurately.  It's actually deep coral...or ripe papaya; definitely more orange than salmon and more pink than passion fruit.  Oy.

Actually, I believe it's the color of Natalie Wood's vest in this musical number from "Inside Daisy Clover."  (I need to pair it with mango and moss green!)  WARNING: You WILL have this dreadful song stuck in your head all day.



Have a great day, everybody!