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Thursday, May 05, 2011

The Liberty Shirt

Once upon a time there was a girl (let's call her Jorth) who decided that she wanted to make a shirt. This was a decision that she made with some trepidation, for generally shirts did not suit her. A long torso combined with a skinny (elegant, her father used to say, but she knew the truth) neck did not for a happy shirt wearer make.

But this girl worked at a fabric store, which was selling lovely, sumptuous Liberty wool/cotton that was just begging to be made into a shirt. So the girl went online, and looked and looked for the perfect shirt pattern. To be truly honest, most were so... so homely that she recoiled from them in horror. But there was one which kept catching her eye. To be sure, in the pattern photograph it was no oil painting, but the need to make a shirt was beginning to consume the girl, and she decided to take a chance on it.

The shirt progressed slowly. It was labelled as "Easy to sew", but the sewing was painstaking and finicky. If an edge wasn't pressed to exactly 3mm, or a seam sewn perfectly straight then the garment would look very average indeed when finished. The kind of project, in fact, that you would inform people that you had made yourself, and they would reply "Yes... you can tell." So Jorth progressed very slowly, and took a lot of care to make the shirt as skillfully as she could.

Finally the day came. Jorth sewed the last button onto the button facing, and went into the bedroom where the full length mirror was. Pulling off her top, and slipping on the shirt she had a moment, just a moment, of quiet panic. What if it looks awful? What if the fit is all wrong? What if it sits lopsidedly? What if it just looks crap?

LibertyShirt1Looking into the mirror she saw that the shirt was none of the above. The fit was fantastic, and the shirt itself looked amazing paired with jeans and a belt. It gave her a slim, modern silhouette - exactly what she had been dreaming of. Jorth smiled, and now that the stress and worry had passed began to think that maybe, just maybe, she should make herself another!




LibertyShirt2

LibertyShirt3

Project Details
Pattern: Simplicity 2255, size 8, Style A
Fabric: 1.6m Liberty wool/cotton from Tessuti Fabrics
Notions: 10 buttons

My favourite part? The tabs. I'm loving those tabs!

22 comments:

  1. Oh Jorth, it's perfect!!!!

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  2. It looks lovely. I just made a dress with this fabric, but on a gloomy Sydney day I couldn't get any good photos of the fabric.
    It definitely looks better in real life.
    I might need to make a shirt now...

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  3. Thank you, lovelies!

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  4. Lovely shirt and I'm very much liking the tabs too!

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  5. Looks great and all the details make it look very professional!

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  6. Love your style Jorth! That is the daggiest ever pattern cover but you rock it!

    Perfect shirt for a coffee date or school pick up or fabric shopping...

    Did you omit the pockets? I can't quite see...

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  7. Yes, Cherri, I did omit the pockets. They just weren't doing it for me, ya know?

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  8. You look great! This shirt is great!

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  9. good choice. xxoo

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  10. AAAHHHHH-mazing! no one would ever ask you if you made this. at least not for the wrong reasons. (be careful, when they ask for the right reasons, and you say yes, they are so gonna ask you to make them one.)

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  11. Goegerous! That fabric is amazing and I love the little tabs, too. I wish I could belt stuff.... It always looks so good on people with waists that aren't two inches below their busts...

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  12. I'm with Tanit-Isis - I love the look of your shirt with the tabs and belt. Alas, I try to belt things (who said it looks great on everyone), but usually just feel stupid.

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  13. gorgeous! I love everything about it and it looks great on you.

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  14. awesome! the fabric is perfect. I too have the long torso syndrome & usually avoid button-ups, but the tunic length here is great!

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  15. You should make another! This first one looks fab and modern. I'm sure you have other Liberty fabrics calling your name. :)

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  16. Another winner!! You always make the fabrics look wonderful with your creations.

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  17. fabricaddict5:51 pm

    I love your shirt! I too am not generally a shirt girl, but you've made me re-think that too, that fabric is amazing!

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  18. I know what it's like to have a 'challenging' figure. You've fantastic job, people will be asking where you bought it from. ♥

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  19. Anonymous3:11 am

    It looks absolutely fabulous - and definitely needs to be repeated!
    ands the tabs are wonderful. Enjoy wearing your shirt.

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  20. Great shirt - I wouldn't have considered that pattern, but it is really working for you!

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