It's a Grand Old...Shirt?!?!

Recently my friend, Larry, saw the black and white shirt from my second blog post...the interpretation of the desigual shirt.

Larry commented that he'd like to have a shirt made by me, maybe a patriotic one. I was very surprised (and honored) by the request, and started researching inspiration. Below is the initial focus...a simple left half/right half stars and stripes split. Simple to make, right?

How Much Inspiration Is Enough?

I continued to research inspiration...just in case I found something I liked better. There were other interpretations of this type of shirt, including some with more flag-like horizontal stripes, most just variations on a theme. Lots of Western-influenced looks. I also knew Larry's shirt would have short sleeves.

I really preferred the horizontal stripes and the upper left field of stars, just like the actual US flag.

Finding the Right Fabric

The next task was locating the two fabrics: blue with white stars, and red with white stripes. Should be easy, right? Think again. I checked out all the usual online sources, including the websites for the major fabric chains. There were plenty of mini-prints out there, but locating the right colors and a larger scale, and even the right base cloth (not duck or outdoor fabric), turned out to be impossible.

So, back to the design phase. I figured I could make my own striped fabric by sewing strips together, but the star fabric? I could applique them, but that's a LOT of stars.

Then I saw this shirt and went in another direction. I could handle the amount of piecing and star applique on this one.

But I didn't really want to make it out of solids. Then I found these printed cottons from Patrick Lose Fabrics, part of his "Festive" blender collection. http://www.patricklose.com/

These are tonal prints that read "solid." And they have stars in the design. No-brainer. Now, to find a shirt pattern.

That was simple: there's only one men's shirt pattern in the sizing I needed for the project, Simplicity 1544. I checked the pattern piece measurements against Larry's ready-made shirt to make sure the sizing was right, and proceeded to cut out the shirt pieces from the different colors of fabric, based on the inspiration photograph...except for those front yokes, which needed to pieced first.

Stars & Stripes

For the left front striped yoke, I cut 2.5" strips from the red and white fabric and sewed them together, alternating colors. The right front yoke was a bit more involved.

For the starry yoke, I cut two pieces: one from the blue and one from the white, stacking them with the white on top. I enlarged an image of the field from a US flag and traced the star shapes onto the white yoke, using a water-soluble marker. Then, with the yokes still stacked with the white on top, and the fabric pinned together between each star to prevent shifting, I straight-stitched around each star shape. Next, I cut away the white fabric between the stars using fine embroidery scissors (being careful not to cut into the blue layer below) and then stitched around each star using a small zigzag stitch to cover the raw edges. All while watching a History Channel program on the presidents...seems appropriate!

Next I sewed the yokes to the appropriate lower shirt fronts and then sewed the color-blocked back pieces together (blue yoke, red and white left and right sides). With the piecing completed, the shirt could be assembled per the pattern instructions.

The shirt is completed and ready to be boxed and shipped out. It's pretty faithful to the inspiration shirt, even with short sleeves. Instead of making contrast welt pockets on each shirt front, I placed a matching patch pocket on each front just below the yoke seam. Buttons are white instead of the blue snaps used on the inspiration shirt.

This was a fun project to be working on during the week of Flag Day, and reminded me just how blessed we are in this country, and how much we owe to our veterans for the freedom we enjoy every day. (Much more on that in a future post...and tied to another project.)

Until next week, keep those sewing machines humming!

DTFM