Surveying the wreckage our children have made of the yard
I got pictures!
This shirt was finished at the end of February. And it’s taken me this long to wrangle him three steps out on the back deck to get something resembling decent pictures. Argh!
Anyhow. This was originally the muslin but (if you will recall), he was only willing to try it on for about three seconds and balked loudly at photos. But the fabric was nice—a flannelly old bedsheet—so I was able to convince him to let me finish it properly and photograph it. In theory. With promises of… well, I won’t go into that on a blog my mother reads.
So… the fit.
This is a “slim fitting” men’s shirt, with those interesting princess seams. I took the princess seams in each about 1/4″ around the waist (for a total 2″ reduction), since his actual waist is about 2″ less than the pattern’s waist measurement. This makes for a nice line that’s flattering without being overly tight.
Butterick 3364
I am actually squeeing a bit over how nicely the shoulders fit. No slope-shoulder adjustment required, apparently, which surprised me a bit since he’s plenty muscly in that area. Not going to complain, though.
I lengthened the sleeves by 2″. This was probably a bit much—I think 1″ would’ve been enough—but he, like me, is a bit ape-armed and thus prefers the overly-long sleeve to one that feels just not quite long enough.
Ma hunny!
I also omitted the pockets and collar roll, and just made the collar stand, as is his preference in shirts. The collar (stand) is in fact long enough to button up comfortably—I had to unpick the original and make a larger one—but between me buttoning up the shirt in the livingroom and getting him out to the deck he’d unbuttoned it.
A straight shot of the back to show the fit a bit better.
I wish I could say that this had become a go-to shirt, as I love the fit and how it looks on him. Unfortunately his main use of dress shirts is as comfy-lounging-around-the-house wear. The poet shirts I made him last summer are very well suited to this use, but a more fitted shirt like this is apparently a bit restrictive for such lounging.
I’m not sure when/if I’ll make another, not because I don’t love it, but if it’s going to be this much trouble to get a photo, AND he’s not going to wear the resulting shirt, well, my motivation is limited. I do have at least three fabrics in stash bought with a shirt for him in mind, though… I’ll have to think on it. One is a stretch linen, and I know he wears linen and the stretch might make it “comfy” enough to get some use.
Although when I tried to talk about the linen, he kept bringing up his lone, current, pretty-much-worn-to-death linen shirt, which has a camp collar and facing and back pleating pretty much identical to a short-sleeve Negroni.
So apparently I should’ve just made the Negroni.
I think I’ll go work on my springy coat now. Sewing for men seems to bring out my homicidal tendencies…
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Cutie pie! And the shirt fits fabulously.
Success! It looks wonderful, truly. The fit is excellent. Congratulations!
It looks great! The fit is amazing. I have a shirt in the works for dh at the moment and it is definitely encouraging the homicidal tendencies. If he doesn’t wear it when it’s done…
The shirt looks like an excellent fit and comfortable too.
You do know that men are just larger-sized boys, right? Having two daughters, you may have forgotten… you’re lucky he kept it tucked in for the photos! heh heh… nice work
Yeah. Boys are weird. I think they’re really aliens. Well, except for Peter 🙂
Re: OMFG article:
LOL!! ROFLMAO!!!
Been there, done that with all kinds of very reluctant, recalcitrant models!! Tee Hee! I feel your pain!
You need to get this guy on TLC’s “What Not To Wear!”, so at least Clinton Kelly can talk to him about why he’s hanging onto old, see-through from too much wearing, clothing!! Ha!
I love that you’re still willing to at least entertain the idea of making a shirt for him.
Maybe …if you made it for another friend who also happened to be a guy…he’d reconsider?
I think you did a super FAB job!!
He shouldn’t be so like that to wear it for a decent pic!!
Good luck!
Well, he’s adorable, and the shirt is fabulous. Good job!
Haha, your hubby sounds like mine as far as trying on clothes, taking pictures, and being bribed with unmentionable things goes… You are nice to sew for him and you did a great job considering the seconds you had to fit it too him.
You are way too kind to sew for dh. I keep promising J I’ll sew him something, but I think I enjoy sewing for myself a bit too much. The fit looks fabulous!
OMG those children look like their daddy. I guess I hadn’t ever seen him before (barring a pretty good shot of his middle finger).
Yep. That’s all I came away with after all that heart-wrenching sewing talk and all: that your kids look like their dad.
(I would never even consider sewing for The Husband, but then, he’s notoriously ill-dressed, so why try to contribute to that disaster? You should count yourself lucky that yours at least looks decent -as far as I can tell- when he leaves the house… or even when he doesn’t. I swear, if one more oversized beige t-shirt enters this house, I will—)
Yes. Especially Tyo. The joke is that we’re very sure that he’s the father but were not entirely convinced that I’m the mother.
Style is not something my sweetie lacks. Diversity and willingness to experiment… Not so much. But style aplenty. 😉
Very nice fit. I like the stand collar.
I’m glad he posed for you. It’s tough for my guy too. Even the promise of a handmade shirt can’t always convince them?!
Good job. Are they still called princess seams in mens shirts?
The prince seams look so good in a man’s shirt! I don’t see it often, but they accentuate a man’s shoulders very nicely. Great job.
First thing, that shirt is very, very nice! And the fit is great. It is a shame that your man is not more enthusiastic… Are the princess seams flat felled? If so, was it hard? Because I would completely consider that kind of pattern!
Because here, I have someone that asks me almost everyday when I will sew his next shirt (because he already has the main fabric AND some contrast fabric for it too)…
Wanna switch? Well, mine is less muscle-y… But smart and cute-clumsy, you know crazy scientists…
I didn’t flat-fell the seams as this one officially started out life as a muslin—just serged and then topstitched. The next shirt I make him (I’m bound to cave eventually) I will try flat felling—it is kinda scary, isn’t it?
You totally need to buy your boy a sewing machine for his next birthday 😉
I think I’ll go work on my springy coat now. Sewing for men seems to bring out my homicidal tendencies…
Oh this made me laugh and laugh! I hope he is appropriately appreciative of 1) the time you took out of sewing things for yourself to make him something lovely, and 2) refraining from giving into those homicidal urges…
On the shirt itself, lovely job. I’ve admittedly not looked too closely at men’s clothing before, but I was surprised to see princess seams on this shirt. It came out lovely, though, so why the heck not, eh? Probably much easier for fitting bigger shoulders and a trim waist.
I first saw them on a shirt Peter made last year sometime, and thought it would be perfect for my manly man. There isn’t a whole lot of shaping there but just enough :). And I think it’s a nice detail without being too out there 😉
Nice work on the shirt it’s a really goof fit. And, he must deem them cool ‘cos he’s wearin’ his shades man 😉
The shirt looks great! My husband keeps asking for a shirt but I know he will be so picky when I start to make it that I am putting it off. Well, now that I am pregnant I am putting off everything. I figure that buys me a good years worth of time. 🙂
The fit on the shoulders is so nice! I’m glad to see others have to resort to nefarious bribes to encourage modeling! Prince seams!
Funny (not-so-related) story – I was taking pictures the other day (of myself) – with the tripod and the timer. Apparently, Mr. Bug did not realize that I use the self timer, and he BURST into the room, and did a whole bunch of super-body-builder poses. In his boxer briefs. He was completely unaware that the camera was snapping away the whole time, so I now have enough pictorial blackmail material to ensure years of docile modeling sessions from him…
OMG that’s the best thing ever! You hide those pictures well, Bug! Thanks so much for brightening up my Monday!
So. Awesome.
I totally need to engineer such a situation….
This is excellent.
Mine will rarely stand still for photos either… or take them, even! Good thing I have a tripod…
The shirt looks freaking awesome!
I agree – the shirt looks great on him.
The shirt looks great on him….you are sooo nice to make your sweetie clothes…I have no plans to ever make my BF anything…you know, the knitted sweater curse and all….
You should be “squeeing a bit” over those shoulders! Awesome.
I LOVE THIS SHRT.
I NEED THIS PATTERN.
PLEASE MAKE RUGGY ONE.
(i promised him, err, last christmas.)
LOVE,
OONA.
Erm. Um. I could send you a tracing? It’s a 40″ chest, 15″ neck.
ummm… so that’s perfect sizing… at the risk of angering the vintage pattern gods… YES?! i’ll trace you one in return… then they cancel each other out right?
Hey, how did a young Tim Robbins end up with a cute girl in Saskatchewan??? Amazing shirt, your sewing output amazes me. Well, actually, it makes me verrrry envious.
It’s a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and pure adolescent stupidity… with one of those happy endings that you suspect was tacked on by the director after the test-audience panned the “real” ending. 😉
Yay for your hunny to finally model your hard work!
I would lose motivation as well if that was the attitude I had to deal with.
The shirt looks really great! Way better than anything he could ever find in a store – high end or not.
yay!
aawwww! men can definitely bring out homicidal tendencies! the shirt looks awesome and the fit is sooooo good! you weren’t kidding about a crazy shoulder to waist ratio! i think the only way you could get that close of a fit was by using prince seams 😉
Great looking shirt. Very flattering shape.
Finally I’ve returned after my original iphone viewing earlier this week. I’m very impressed you managed to get a posed photo- it’s certainly worth it cos it shows the shirt like no other hanger would! It’s a fantastic fit & no way would you guess it could be conjured up from the pattern’s drawing!! I’m supposed to be sewing more male shirts … Negroni is patiently waiting for me too… plus I have to alter a too big (& long finished but not fitted) shirt that I made my son. The thought of ripping it all out …………anyway, I love seeing what others make the men in their lives. This is fab.