Present Joys

“We thank the Lord of heaven and earth
who hath preserved us from our birth
for present joys, for blessings past,
and for the hope of heaven at last.”

Here it is: my first shirt of the summer! I cut this shirt from the pattern I made over Christmas break, so it’s virtually the same as the ones I made at that time, with the notable exception of dropping the neckline by about 1” in the front.

The fabric is Spechler Vogel Textiles Orange Chambray (60-in.) from Sew to Speak (purchased for $8/yd). I’m not sure quite how much I ended up using since I used some scraps of the same fabric for another project last year. The buttons are expensive genuine-pearl buttons from Banasch’s Fabrics in Cincinnati. They are all a little differently-shaped and differently-colored and are completely worth the price.

So, this is definitely my best shirt to date. I’m becoming very comfortable sewing . The fabric is lovely, but the finished product. I used the fusible, woven, 100% cotton lightweight interfacing from Banasch’s (the same kind I’ve been using in bow ties). In hindsight the interfacing is heavier than I would have liked. I’m not sure how to handle this going forward.

I need to shore up my pattern in a few places (specifically the breast and yoke), and the sleeves could stand to be a quarter-inch longer. But overall I’m very proud of the product.