Shirt Making I

I am taking a tailored shirt class. This seemed like a good idea at the time. I wear shirts and I sew. How convenient would it be if I made my shirts? I decided it would be very convenient and promptly signed up.

My brother wears shirts. He has a relatively decisive idea on clothing. This makes him a good shopping companion. It's quick. Wide-eye and a shake of the head is no. Pursed lips and a moment of thought normally results in a yes. I tend to try the whole store on. He can limit it down to about two pieces that match before you go anywhere near the changing room. I like to look in every store. He approaches the threshold of the store and then makes a well-informed decision. "I don't think so." So I dragged him off to help me choose fabric and buttons for my shirt.

Afterwards, in a moment of generosity and to thank him for services rendered, I offered to sew him a shirt if the class went well. Ever supportive, he demurred. He hadn't seen any fabric that he had liked. I pursued it, puzzled that he hadn't seen anything he liked. There was one that I was positive he would have liked. What about the light blue one with the light brown check? Yes, he agreed he had liked it but not as a shirt. So I sketched it out for him. Imagine it with jeans. Suddenly he could envision it. Weeeelll, he said, if you're offering.

At our first class, we covered pattern alteration. Darrell emphasised one point that I had missed. Do not make a tailored shirt for free. They are too much work. Charge for them. Charge $150. There was no way my brother was going to pay when I had pushed him into agreeing. He was more likely to back out even faster.

After the class when looking at the fabric, I causally mentioned to another student that I wanted to make this fabric into a shirt for my brother, to wear with jeans. She thought I was joking. "Haha, as if you're going to make a tailored shirt for him to wear with jeans. All that work."

I started to get worried. What had I missed? What was so difficult about making a tailored shirt? I knew there were the fine points to getting it right. Then I realised that there was a lady in the class because she could not get it right. And she had worn a shirt she had made to class. It had looked fine to me.

I was mentioning this to a friend who knows nothing about sewing. His reaction was like everyone elses, "Those have to be a lot of work!" I just glared at him. What did he know anyway?

I'm re-evaluating the convenience factor in making your own shirts and working on the snob factor. I'm determined to figure out how to match the placket. It will be a lot of work, but then, shirts are a lot work, you know.