Striped Shirts and the Culottes

Hello again,

I have a bunch of projects on the go right now but not so many finished ones. I thought I would share some things that aren't as interesting or complicated. The shirts are something I have been making for about a year now. They started with a boys western shirt pattern from the 70s that I altered to fit a grown human. The culottes are just something I whipped up with some worsted wool I had from a failed pleated skirt. I finished them around the same time as the Raven dress and figured I should post about them sooner rather than later.

 This is the first of the striped western shirts that I have made. It's a printed stripe rayon with a thick, vintage synthetic for the yoke. I have no actual idea what the fabric of the yoke is other than it is thick and bulky an should probably never be used for a collar.

 This version has an unedited length of the collar so it's a bit pointy for my tastes. The fabric and buttons were thrifted at my favorite little thrift shop down the street for less than $5.

 It's not terribly apparent but this shirt is lavender with white buttons. It is all cotton, the body is a striped quilting cotton and the yoke and collar is just a shirting. The collar is not interfaced to keep it soft and somewhat feminine.

  This sucker shrank more than expected in the wash. I had forgotten to pre wash the fabric for the body so it pulls a bit across the chest now.

 The top stitching on the back of the stand makes me sad, maybe someday I will fix it. I made the collar a tad smaller on this version and I think I like it better.

 Finally the green shirt. This I finished right before taking it out for photos! Admittedly, I cheated a bit though. Originally this was a large mens shirt At least the body was large, huge even! The sleeves were taken to be the bodice of the dress and the rest was going to be used for a corset. While digging through my stash the other day I discovered the fabric and changed my mind.

 I kept the stand and the collar and re-cut the body and sleeves out of the body of the shirt. I kept the nifty little back peat to add some fullness to the back so it would puff out of my skirt our trousers. Although, it did make the shape of the yoke have to be less pointed but I like the look of the point leading to a pleat.

I believe the accumulated cost for all four garments is around $30. Most of the fabric is thirifted or a remnant and was barely enough for each garment. The sleeves on the lavender shirt are a bit shorter due to the lack of fabric but I think they turned out rather cute.

All of the shirts have a two part sleeve that I altered to be that way after realizing on the first shirt that I would never be able to make sleeves with the little fabric I had if I kept it in one piece. The yoke is applied on top of the shirt once the shoulders are put together and stitched into the armholes and neckline. The collars are going to take some more practice before they look great but luckily messy stitching on the back stand is covered by the collar anyway.

That's all for now. I should have a bunch more on the way so pictures and postings are imminent!

Check back soon,
Jessie