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Monday, August 12, 2013

Mr. C's new shirt

Setting up the pattern with my trusty assistant and project supervisor

Over the past 4 weeks I've been secretly working on an exciting sewing project: a classic men's shirt. The lovely Susan and Martin from Partlan Pattern Designs contacted me if I wanted to be a pattern tester for their Shannon shirt. I've never done a classic double yoke shirt with French cuffs and I was so excited to put my sewing skills to the test. And I certainly did. Like Peter Lappin from Male pattern boldness said in one of his posts: Shirt making isn't for sissies and he was right. It takes a lot of time, patience and precision to construct a men's shirt. But the result is a stunning item of clothing that really surpasses all of those of the peg T-shirts and raggedy looking jerseys and such.

it's all in the details: perfect collar points and sleeve placket

In my fashion oriented posts I've often wrote about the poor quality of fabrics and poor fit as well as lack of ingenuity in mainstream fashion and how this influenced me to develop my sewing skills. When we look at men's fashion it's even worse: limited choices, shoddy construction and for lack of better words no wow effect. I've also written about my passion (or better obsession) with Poirot movies. The costumes in these movies are amazing. I love the watch them over and over again and get lost in the world of eloquent, well mannered people who dress with such elegance. The Shannon shirt project was therefor heavily influenced by the aesthetic of my beloved Poirot movies, the world of impeccable bespoke tailoring with a hint of flamboyance in choosing a floral patterned print cotton.


The pattern Martin and Susan sent was a bespoke pattern designed according to Mr. C's measurements. And what a difference that made! As is customary, the pattern pieces are first basted together to check for general fit and to mark the adjustments. Having a made-to-measure pattern made it the world's fastest fitting ever. The shirt fit like a glove and Mr. C's words was far more comfortable than any of his bought shirts. The real difference however was the fit in particularly the fit across the shoulders. It's difficult to descibe or even convince someone of the benefits of custom fit garments until they've had the luxury of trying them on. Much like the difference between cheap whisky and an aged single malt Scotch. It's a tangible experince and an unforgettable at that.


It took me about 10 days of relaxed, easy paced sewing from start to finish. Susan and Martin were marvelous throughout the entire process. They've set up posts with instructions on their blog detailing various steps of the process. And  during this time we've chatted about buttons and collar shapes and yokes and a ton of other small details that only a true sewing enthusiast can appreciate.


As an hommage to Martin's love for hats, Mr. C insisted to model the shirt wearing his fedora. Go check Martin wearing his gorgeous peacock print shirt wearing his :-)


The photos were taken on a hot summer's eve near the source of river Ljubljanica, one of our favourite hiking spots.

20 comments:

  1. Wow...this is incredible. You are so talented. I love the shirt and the pattern. Growing up all of our clothes were custom made...everything fit. We never realized what a treat that was...you can start a business Anna. Wishing you a great week! xx

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    1. my small enterprise consists of making clothes for me, my mum and Mr C. It's fun and budget friendly for all three of us :-) and of course Rufus get's an occasional toy or a pet bed...

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  2. Ana, we thank you and Mr. C very much for helping us test and improve our pattern. I thought you would have received our gift by now but just got email from a certain someone in Ljubljana that he is on vacation and the gift will be sent out on Thursday. Living in the US it is easy to forget that Europeans often vacation in August :). Thanks again for everything and I hope Mr. C will enjoy the beautiful shirt you made for many years to come.

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    1. a special person in Ljubljana agh... you're killing me here :-) now I'm dying to know!

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  3. I love the sleeve placket. I've never heard that term before. I guess that shows how much I know about fashion - HA!

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    1. sleeve placket a.k. the technical term for the slit in the sleeve ;-) when I started learning how to sew a lot of these terms were new to me as well and it took a while for me to get used to them. It still amazes me just how many different seams and bits go into the construction of something as ordinary as a shirt or a pair of pants. Trust me when you get to the zip fly it's a whole new thing alltogether!

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  4. Nice shirt, and even better improvisation. It's perfect for formal engagements. What about more casual occasions? Maybe you can make several other versions for those, or maybe you can just buy one, heheh. Just saying :)

    SportsPrintUSA.com

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    1. the best part of sewing process: when you get to play with fabric and mix it all up in your own unique way :-)

      Thanks vor visiting!

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  5. Your work is beautiful and the fabric is great. Mr C. cuts quite a figure in that shirt and hat. Thank you so much for being willing to test our pattern.

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    1. Martin thanks again. This project was definitely the highligt of this year's sewing season.

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  6. Wow, what an exciting project. Having sewn clothing in the past, I know what an undertaking it is, and getting the correct fit is the most difficult part. That's a beautiful shirt and Mr. C. is quite dashing wearing it and his fedora.

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    1. Thanks Sanda :-) I've already promised him to make another shirt, more casual than this one.

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  7. Great stuff! How lovely to be able to make your hubby a shirt. I think it's sweet how your sewing project supervisor 'helped' out too ;-)

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    1. Thanks :-) sewing menswear is definitely a challenge: trousers and shirts require a lot more precision than dresses and skirts. But I love challenges because my sewing skills improve.

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  8. In his secret life Mr C must be a male model,the hat is the final touch.Now we can understand why
    our top British shirt maker,Turnbull & Asser charges up to a £145 for shirts,some people might
    call them a tad too traditional,ok for city gentleman.The quality/standard of the shirt is top class
    bespoke,Mr Poirot would certainly wear the design,not sure about a floral one?

    Thank you for sharing the journey of a hand made shirt.

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    1. Poirot loves floral prints in his bow ties, as well as paisley. I've also seen him wear brocade vests in earlier episodes. So his love for floral is in tiny discreet amounts :-) but it was still a big inspiration for this shirt.
      And Mr. C thanks you for the compliment. He's going to be prancing around in his hat even more often now :-)

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  9. Great job, especially on the cuffs and collars which I always find really tricky. Maybe I need to hire some better trusty assistants / supervisors, my two are hopeless!

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    1. mine works for kibbles, belly rubs and an the chance to play with fabric sraps while relaxing on my most expensive silk and wool fabric.

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  10. Oh how lucky your husband is. Being able to wear a custom made shirt by you, designed by your American " pattern designers ".
    I honestly can imagine the great difference wearing a shirt ( so important for a man ) made by hand, than snatching one from the shelf of a mall.
    If I were a man, a rich man, I would have all my shirts handmade and always wear polished shoes of classic style ( no need to buy new ones all the time ).
    I´d also pay attention on wearing clean clothes and never missing my barber appointment, keeping my nails clean and short, etc.. ; ).
    Congratulations for The Partlan Patterns, You and your Husband!

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    1. So essentially you'd be The Saint as played by Roger Moore :-) he wore custom made everything and drove an Aston Martin. Phew, fancy guy!

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