Ollie’s Birthday Shirt

I had some reservations about making the Oliver+S Sketchbook shirt. I haven’t made one since Greg’s Negroni, and let’s just say he’s super polite to wear it because, y’all, it’s a mess. I don’t dare look at it now because I might forget all about the sentimentality it stands for and burn it.

I also haven’t been sewing as much as I would like, so I feel quite rusty. With the test garment, I decided to take my time. Well…I had no choice. I was only able to work on it here and there, in between naps and bedtime. But it’s amazing how your sewing quality shoots up a couple of notches when you don’t rush. Funny that. Note to self: TAKE YOUR TIME. I am so used to rushing through garments that most of them have cruddy innards and have fallen apart after a handful of washes. My mending pile is huge. Such a shame.

Because of baby I have to slow down and really concentrate at the work at hand. Thanks baby! Oh should I saw, toddler? Whoa.

I had a devil of a time using the one-step buttonhole attachment on my machine. The buttonholes just would not finish the process. I’m guessing the buttonhole foot just did not like the placket. Or maybe my tension was off? I didn’t try to figure the issue out. I unpicked (oh vey!!!) the bad buttonholes and you can barely see the damage they caused on the placket. With time ticking away, I grabbed my hammer. Enter pearl snaps. Months ago, when I was planning my Archer, I impulse purchased a bunch of pearl snaps. Thank goodness.

Another useful purchase for this project was the blind hemming/edge stitching foot. So useful for topstitching the collar, cuffs, hem, and plackets. Too bad I bought it before realizing I already had one! D’oh! Silly Mela. At least it didn’t cost much.

I love the under collar so!

I encountered a few hiccups while doing the sleeves. It wasn’t until I finally set them in that I realized I wanted to do a French seam. I could’ve unpicked them and start all over again but this shirt was the first one to give me grief when inserting a sleeve. When I finally got them in without puckers I felt quite a bit of relief. So no way was I unpicking them. I zig-zagged the edges and called it a day.

Another hiccup was putting in the snaps on the wrong side on the cuffs. The sleeve plackets should lie flat but if you look in the photo they turn up. Oh well. Not enough snaps to take them out and re-do. And I don’t think Ollie minds so much 🙂

The intention when making this shirt was for it to be made up from the inner yoke fabric. The chambray version was just my test version. Time ran out and it became the final version 🙂 But it worked out great because it goes well with any accessories. Chambray is totally a blank canvas, a gorgeous neutral to work with.

Using some yummy leftover Liberty tana lawn I made Ollie a bow tie to go along with his new shirt. This fabric has been such a giver. I’ve made so much from it: bibs, burp cloths, my maternity dress, and now the bow tie. And I still have scraps of it left.

I still have to make his other shirt, the one originally set to be his birthday shirt. Now that spring has sprung I am going to skip the long sleeves and go short. That will make the process go faster. He might just get to wear it before fall!

Here’s one last shot of my boy wearing his duds.