Projects that refuse to wait their turn

I have done myself the service of getting rid of most of the unfinished projects in my life. That is, except the shirt.

The pattern

I promised my husband that I would make him a shirt. That was about one hundred zillion years ago. I had a beautiful vintage Western shirt pattern in my stash that just happened to be more or less his size. (For many, this particular gem, presumably from the early 60s, would be a bit costume-y given the shape of the collar, but my guy is a musician, and this kind of thing works for some of the gigs he works.)

But somewhere along the way with this project, it got lost. Here's as far as it got: yokes attached to front and back, pockets made (but not attached), and most of the rest of the pieces cut (not the cuffs or collar band facing for some reason that I can't seem to remember).

Where things stalled out

Part of what stalled out this project was a lack of any appropriate shirting fabric. I chose what I was able to find that would make a passable first draft. It's something white with a horizontal grey pinstripe, which I thought would be nice-ish since many of the pieces, like the yokes, pocket flaps, and snap placket on a traditional Western shirt, are cut on the bias for contrast. The more I look at it, though, the more I hate this fabric. It's been lovely to work with as it's stable if a bit on the heavy side for a shirt, but I just don't like it. The horizontal stripe, even a pinstripe, and even on someone as lean as my guy, isn't flattering.

As it turns out, men's shirting options are rather limited. Unless the man is quite flamboyant -- given to loud plaids featuring lime, magenta, and turquoise -- or quite conservative -- sticking with tiny blue and white checks -- the offerings at the local fabric store certainly aren't going to work. The closet full of Western shirts that he has are mainly poly/cotton (apparently men who wear these shirts opt for easy care every time) and quite lightweight. Most of them are mostly wrecked, as they were second hand to begin with, but they're all interesting, vibrant plaids that aren't hideous or homespun. Ultimately, for version two, I'd like to find a cotton that I really do like, that's lightweight but with a stable weave. I suppose there's always plain white or black, but that falls short of interesting. I could go with a linen-y blend, but that's not as crisp enough to fit this style. It's a question mark.

Back to today, though. This project has revived itself. I've been doing  a lot of sewing for myself. Lots.Not that it's resulted in much with all the fitting and fiddling, but I've been spending a lot of time doing it, and I've been learning a lot. I think my guy believes I'm hiding out. It's resulted in quite a lot of ribbing recently, so I've been propelled back into action on the shirt. As it turns out, though, all of the learning I've done on other projects is paying off here. I was able to attach the snap plackets on both front pieces and complete the collar without too many problems. (for a first shirt with a traditional collar, I think it's not too bad!) I was also able to go back and revisit some topstitching that was a little too Becky Home Ec-y the first time around. Judging from the pictures, though, it looks like I need to spend some time pressing out those two years of accumulated wrinkles.  

Progress!