Putting the Shirt Together

Putting the shirt together is a relatively speedy process once the pattern pieces are cut out. By looking at the example shirt I can gauge how to construct it fairly easily. What was helpful was taking a moment before I started sewing to make a kind of plan for myself of how to approach making the shirt. First I started by making the front and then planned on making the sleeves and then putting it all together. Taking a moment to look over the example I made plan of action I made little notes like this:

Sleeve Opening on front is 13”

So sew up the sides 13”from the top plus s/a

Do shoulder seams 2” from the neck end

Insert triangle at neck, over-locking before hand

Cut down front to put in button stand

Ect…

This made things easier when I started putting things together because I already had a thought out list to look at and I think that really helped speed up the process. Being able to plan and think ahead is really coming in useful for making this shirt. It is a good thing to have to think about. ‘Do I need to over-lock this edge before I sew it, how much seam allowance do I need, if I put this in first will it be in the way when I attach it to..?’ This shirt is becoming a good exercise in thinking ahead. 

Shirt Pattern

Originally Diagram given by The National Theatre

My re-drawn diagram with calculated measurements

Today I began cutting out the male shirt for the National Theatre Hire Department. This was a completely new process for me since there was no pattern, but rather a graph as our pattern. Deciphering this graph proved to be the hardest part about cutting out this shirt. There weren’t many measurements or formulas to figure out the measurements. Some of the bigger pieces like the shirt front and sleeves were given as approximately finished sizes but only horizontal estimations not vertical. It was also difficult because although it was drawn on graph paper it wasn’t scaled down exactly. Meaning that they wrote the finished sleeve should be approximately 20 inches but the sleeve on the graph took up about 23.5 boxes. So I couldn’t even count the boxes to get the measurements. Instead I decided that the sleeve piece was a square so it was labeled as approx. 20inch when finished so it was a 20” by 20” square. Using that I gauged the rest of the pieces using how they related in size to the sleeve. As well as taking measurements from the finished shirt we were given as an example I drew out my own graph to cut out my pieces. It was a simple series of cutting squares and rectangles after that. 

Blouse Evaluation

Finished Blouse Front

Finished Blouse Back

I am very proud of my blouse upon its completion. I naively thought that this would be one of the easier garments to make for the National. However I encountered many challenges to overcome throughout, from simple mistakes to testing out a new process. Probably my biggest mistake was made in the very beginning when I was cutting out the pattern, and that was cutting two of the same sleeves. I must not have flipped my pattern the second time which is a peril when cutting out with just one layer of fabric. I was lucky enough to have enough fabric to cut out a third sleeve and all that was lost was time. This mistake will make me more aware the next time I cut out on just one layer of fabric. I think it will also help me be more aware of marking the right and wrong side of the fabric. In the case of this blouse the black fabric I was using was similar on both sides; maybe that contributed to the mistake as well. Another challenge I encountered was making the slit at the wrist of the sleeve. It was a relatively new process and it took me some time to really do it correctly, but that something that I can now feel more confident in doing again. One thing I did feel was a success was the pin-tucks on the front. Using chalk that didn’t leave marks after ironing was a good solution to working on black fabric when the garment wasn’t going to be lined. I really wanted to make sure the blouse looked as clean on the inside as it did on the outside. Using lots of tacking was also key to keeping things tidy, I discovered that it took a lot less time to mark tack something than to try and remove chalk lines. I am very happy with the quality of this shirt as well as the amount of time it took me to make it. I started on Thursday April 28^th, when I was originally scheduled to start the male shirt. I finished the blouse on Monday May 9^th so a little over a week like originally planned. I did utilize the weekends but tried to keep that at a minimum. I feel that in a professional work-room if I was given a similar blouse I would be confident in making it.  

Improvements on the Blouse

I feel that making this blouse has been an important learning experience in gathering knowledge from the example provided, using the pattern, and using knowledge from our previous units. There are a few little things I did differently on this blouse than how they were done on the example. 
The Center Back:
The center back on this blouse holds the buttons and button stand. It is a part of the blouse that needs to be strong and durable. On the example given to us by the National the button stand is left unfinished with the raw edges showing on the inside. It is already starting to fray a little, something I wanted to make sure and avoid. Following the guides on the pattern I made the seam allowance and the width of the finished button stand the same so that when I folded it over to form the button stand it, essentially, has three layers of fabric underneath it to add to the strength. On the first fold over I did a machine stitch line about 1/8th inch away from the edge. It is folded again and then was tacked in before the button-holes were done to secure it. On the button side everything was done the same except that I also did a machined line between the end of the button stand and the row of buttons. Just to make sure it didn't move but I also made sure it would be covered up by the button-hole side when buttoned. I feel like these are all good improvements to the center back button stand using the pattern directions and fundamental studies techniques. 
Top Stitching vs. Hand Sewing:
This is a very important change from the original to the blouse I made. Much of the example was top-stitched using a machine. This could be for a number of reasons, but most likely is that it was done for speed. I used a mix of top stitching and hand-sewing. On the cuffs and collar instead of top-stitching close to the seam I slip-stitched the collar lining inside so there is no top-stitching required. But on the hem I used a machine stitch close to the edge. A hem stitch or slip stitch would still leave marks on the fabric so it was decided that a straight stitch would be better and could count as a design decision. I think this mix of hand sewing and machine sewing was effective. I'm not sure how long it would take to make this blouse in a work-room but I felt like the hand-sewing didn't take any extra work and for me it produced neater results. 

The Third Sleeve

Today I discovered a mistake I had made in the very beginning of making this blouse. I cut out two of the same sleeves. It is a common mistake when cutting out patterns on one thickness instead of two. I do think for smaller garments that cutting out on single thickness can be neater but it runs at a high risk. This is also a devastating discovery because I have already put the cuffs on both sleeves. Luckily I have enough fabric to cut another sleeve out and the cuff doesn’t need to be re-made just taken off the incorrect sleeve and put on the correct. This also gives me a chance to re-make my sleeve opening at the cuff with a little more accuracy, since I’ve practiced on the other two sleeves. This is a set-back that could mean a change in my time plan. In a work room this would be a huge mistake depending on time and the cost of the fabric. It is a good experience in remembering to take my time on each step and stay focused. 

Creating the Sleeve Openings

Sleeve opening, first or second attempt

Finished sleeve opening as it should  function

Sleeve opening on a almost put together sleeve

Creating the openings in the sleeve on the blouse has been a challenge for me. After investigating the sample shirt we were given I realized several things about this opening. It did not sit on the seam like I had originally thought and although the example was all machine sewn I (on the advice of our tutor) should use both machine sewing and hand-sewing. This opening was similar to the skirt placket we had made in fundamental studies first year and so I used that basic technique. Evaluating it now, I wish I would have made a sample first just to experience it and work out all the kinks. My first attempt was not a success and my second and third was okay but not great. With a good press they should be fairly neat. It was a worth-while lesson to learn about taking your time and making small samples of techniques you’re not used to doing. 

Blouse Pin-tucks

Blouse front with mark tacking

Blouse front with pin tucking and lace

After cutting out the blouse, the first things to tackle were the pin-tucks on the front of the blouse. This is something I had never done before so I made sure to take my time. Since I was working on black fabric  I needed to be careful about my chalk lines and what might show up. I had in my kit, a square of dress-making white chalk (from a previous course) that disappears when you iron it. After a few tests on scrap fabric I discovered that it worked really well (disappeared) on this black fabric well. So I drew on my lines for the pin-tucks carefully using this white chalk. Then I tacked in all the lines with white thread. This way when I went to sew it I could have the white thread as a guide and the chalk would iron out. Although I think this was a successful technique it was difficult to keep the sewing lines straight using only the thread as a guide. Because the stitch was only a simple basting stitch the thread could move quite easily, after doing the first side I discovered that using a guide on the sewing machine and the white thread was a neater approach to creating the pin-tucks. I also made the unfortunate mistake of pressing the pleats the wrong way. Luckily I was able to correct it quite easily and the lace on-top helped it lay flat. I am pleased with how the pin-tucks turned out.