Lichen shot-cotton shirt

This is a shirt I made for Craig for his Christmas present, cut out and made up in lots of super secret cloak-and-dagger sewing sessions… although he did help choose the fabric a year ago, so perhaps he might have had some inkling…
But he was nice enough to act satisfyingly surprised and delighted when he opened his present.
The fabric is Kaffe Fasset shot cotton, bought online from purlsoho.com, only the second time I’ve bought fabric in this way. Usually I prefer to feel the fabric myself with my own two hands to weigh up its suitability to the project I have in mind before purchasing. Actually “prefer” is too soft a word; I consider this a non-negotiable essential rule for buying fabric… But I’m familiar with Kaffe Fasset cotton, having come across it before in a local shop (Calico and Ivy), so I knew it would be a good choice for lightweight summer mens’ shirts.
This fabric is a dream to work with, and as the word “shot” implies, has a bright cobalt blue warp combined with an intense acidic yellow weft, to give the fabric this deceptively subdued mossy green hue. I chose thread exactly matched to the yellow of the weft, for all the topstitching.
Same old same old Burda 7767 again, with his custom fitting modifications, plus two breast pockets with shaped flaps and a longer curved hem. Well, with the shorter sleeves as well obviously, and also I added a little decorative button detail to the sleeve hems for fun.

Very easy; here is a quick how-to…
Before sewing the sleeve and side seams, measure the desired length of sleeve from the top of the sleeve cap and mark with a pin

Turn back the seam allowance, right sides together and mark centre point. Also mark with pins points 1cm each side of centre point, and 1cm into the seam allowance, creating a little right-angled triangle on the sleeve edge.

Sew along the two short sides of this little triangle, trim and clip into the corners.

Turn the seam allowance to the inside of the sleeve, wrong sides together and press.

Now sew the sleeve and side seams as usual…

and turn up, press and sew the sleeve hem allowance as normal. I topstitched along the hem edge to help hold those little peaks in place.

And finally, sewed some smaller (4mm) buttons on the peaks. A side note; it took me ages to find the two different sized but matching buttons for this shirt… got these from Fabulous Fabrics. I used these smaller buttons for the collar button-down too. (Is there a correct term for that?)

Cute, no? I think this would look even cuter with an acute angle… haha.

See, I made a little joke.

Hmmm.

10 Thoughts on “Lichen shot-cotton shirt”

Sherry on 28/12/2010 at 3:13 am said:

Very nice! I must get around to making some shirts for DH, I had some poplin set aside for that purpose but have just made it into a dress – whoops!
I know what you mean about buying fabric online, I've only ever purchased standard issue fabrics that I can be sure of the quality. Maybe if I had a bigger budget…!

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Irene on 28/12/2010 at 3:26 am said:

What a great shirt! The details really make it special. It's always about the details, isn't it?

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Gail on 28/12/2010 at 4:19 am said:

Your husband should be pleased with this great shirt. The detailing is very interesting and I like the colour very much.

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Handmade on 28/12/2010 at 4:34 am said:

Great shirt – cute little acutes! Love that colour – blends beautifully with the bushland setting.

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Veronica Darling... on 28/12/2010 at 6:17 am said:

I love a good man shirt! Nice stuff!!!!

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MushyWear on 28/12/2010 at 7:42 am said:

I love fabrics with different warp and weft colors. Thanks for helping me out with those terms. I kept trying to think of what it was called on my last jacket and you just reminded me! Anyway…The shirt is quite stylish with all the perfect little details and cool fabric.

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Fran on 28/12/2010 at 1:10 pm said:

What a beautiful sewing job!!

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Ann's Fashion Studio on 28/12/2010 at 9:05 pm said:

Love the shirt and the fabric sounds wonderful. I really like the sleeve detail, thank you for sharing it 🙂
This reminds me I really need to sew my husband another shirt too!

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Caroline on 28/12/2010 at 11:15 pm said:

oooh, hubby would have loved such a thing too, it's been about 4 years since he got new shirts made by me. I need to correct that this year!! I love the sleeve detail, and the how too, not terribly difficult !! I love your description of the fabric, it sounds so neat. I wish you could see it in the pics. Have a good day!!

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Joy on 29/12/2010 at 11:47 pm said:

What an excellent shirt! I love the color and the sleeve detail is quite nice.

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