Weekend Project: Buttondown Shirts

Earlier this week I was pondering out loud what should be my next sewing project. My husband was in the room and he said, "What about the fabric you bought to make me some shirts?" Wasn't a bad idea, so I thought let's give it a try!

I've made buttondown shirts for myself before, so it shouldn't be too bad. I have three different cotton shirtings in my stash that were designated to him. I'm going to make one just to get the sizing correct, then I'm going to cut the other two out right away. With all good intention, I feel like I could get them done this weekend, but there are many other things I should also be doing like laundry, cleaning up Christmas decorations and maybe even resting a little (haha yeah right!) So we shall see what I get done.

Do you have any pointers for making a men's buttondown shirt?  

Cotton Sateen Shirtdress

In an effort to finish unfinished projects from 2012, I finished a cotton sateen shirt dress  I started this back in July and put it away because it was not turning out the way I wanted to. It is made from a stretch cotton sateen I chose for Julie's Picks Swatch Club at Fabric Mart.

I used Butterick Pattern #5600. The pattern calls for you to pleat in the middle back of the bodice. When I did it, it ballooned up so much. I ended up folding the pleat down to the waist and top-stitching to make it lay nicer. I also brought the side seams in between the underarm and waist to help prevent ballooning. I also wanted to make puff sleeves, but took those off because they were very balloon-like also. I know that I don't look good in puff sleeves, so I'm not sure why I chose them. I made regular sleeves in the end.

Next time I make this pattern I'm going to use a lighter weight fabric. I used a stretch cotton sateen which was beautiful, but was a little too heavy. I think it made the "balloon" factor even worse.

I used teal shank buttons on the front of the dress. I got those at Fabric Mart in our retail store. They were from a NYC design room clean-out. This is also a closeup of the neckline detail.