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May 1, 2014

Paisley Shirt: Cuffs and Collar



These were my beautiful-but-upside-down paisley cuffs from yesterday. 

Today I redid them.  Ta-da!



I left the inside cuff upside down so that, if I roll the cuff up, it will still be facing the right way (Thanks, Lynn B., for the idea.)



In last week's Menswear Sewing class, we learned how to put pleats on our sleeve and attach the cuff.  The first pleat is 1" from the edge of the top part of the sleeve placket.  A pin is placed there to mark the spot, then another pin is placed 1" from the first pin.  A pleat is then made (facing toward the placket).





You then attach the cuff to the inside of the sleeve, pinning along the longer edge (which protrudes 1/2").  You pin the opposite end of the cuff to the under-placket, and pin along the entire cuff, shifting any remaining ease in the direction of the first pleat.  You'll use that ease to make a second, shallower pleat, 1/2" from the first pleat.



You now stitch the cuff to the sleeve from the inside.  A trick we learned is to pin the cuff to the sleeve with the placket-side protruding approx. 1/16".   For some reason (feed dog-related) this results in an even edge.  Once the cuff is attached, you flip it to the outside (see below) and edgestitch the right side of the cuff onto the right side of sleeve.









With regard to collars, I decided I wanted a rounded, "club" collar on my shirt.  I like the look.



I used a pattern piece from a vintage McCall's shirt pattern that comes with assorted collars.   I measured to make sure it would fit the band I was using and it did.





I made the inside collar band out of solid gray shirting, for contrast.



I'm trying not to rush (the shirt isn't due for a couple of weeks) but I hope to finish by early next week -- maybe even tomorrow.  I still have to hem and add buttons and buttonholes (which I'll do myself).

And that's it for today -- not much, but it took many hours.

Have a great day, everybody!

12 comments:

  1. Lovely work. That direction thing on the fold back cuff is genius. And so is the 16th in thing. This is going to be a great shirt.

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  2. god that fabric is gorgeous, I'd love some to make a shirt for my boyfriend! Exactly the same as the one you're making, with the gorgeous thread colour and the grey collar band etc

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  3. The rounded club collar is lovely; this is going to be a beautiful shirt.

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  4. I hope the rounded collar say Club not Peter Pan. Mind you, you rock androgynous looks with such elan, whatevs! :)

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    1. Well, if you're going to do a Peter Pan collar, you might as well make it in paisley! Love that fabric and the cuffs look great, Peter!

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    2. A club collar is MUCH small than a Peter Pan collar -- thankfully!

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  5. Your shirt is coming along beautifully. I STILL haven't made one for my husband. I'm just super selfish with sewing, I think.

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  6. I love the idea that alternative collars were put in the vintage pattern you purchased. I wish that pattern companies would all do this.
    You and all of your blog followers seem to have received so much from your course. So glad you took this course and are sharing with us. Thanks.
    Kathy C.

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  7. So clever to make the inside of the cuff upside down so it is the right way up when folded back! I love that attention to detail. Congratulations Lynn B., and congratulations to you for a wonderful shirt. I crave that fabric.

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    1. PS Thank you so much for the tip about only having to type the wavy word on the anti-spam thingie. For others who may not know: they're not case-sensitive, so you don't have to use the shift-key.

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  8. Your shirt is gorgeous! I'll have to remember the upside down cuff thing. Great idea! One shirt I made I screwed up the direction of one of the sleeve pleats and was too lazy to fix it. Although, ripping it out would have been almost impossible without ruining the fabric so it was better to leave it alone. Thankfully it was a rather busy pattern so it's not really noticeable. Live and learn!

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  9. Amazing workmanship, as always! The grey inside is the perfect match. Glad you kept those lovely cuffs. If you decided not to use them you could have kept them as contrast cuffs for another shirt.

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