Monday 26 September 2011

The pointed question. BWOF 09-2008-143 boy's shirt again

Mary Nanna's comments make me laugh. I have here a perfect example of how her insight helps me to keep amusement in my sewing.
I love this fabric. It is a beautiful lawn, and is far more tasteful that the fabric for the last boy shirt, as it was given to me by Hen, when I met her in London.
Unfortunately, it was given to me by Hen, just to make a shirt for this boy, more than a year ago, and boys have this habit of growing whilst their mother allows fabric to mature irresponsibly in her stash because it is special.

SAM_1010

I had to cheat a bit on the sleeves, because 7 year old boys are not so consuming of fabric as those who have passed 9. (There is a pocket in that photo too, but despite doing no pattern matching what so ever, it is not terribly visible)
The direction of the cars, I suspected after irreversibly cutting them out instead of some more intelligent option, might give rise to, as Mary Nanna says " pointed questions like, "hmm, did your mother make that..?" ". . I regret this mistake, this does not happen to fabric that is still stash.

SAM_1008

When I visited my dear friend this afternoon, with my well dressed boy in his new shirt, I had to explain why her kind question provoked fits of laughter.
She has been kind about my sewing for about 12 years now. I wonder if she will ever be able to talk to me about it with a straight face again?

SAM_1012

10 comments:

katherine h said...

I recently helped 2 eight year olds sew their first pyjamas out of a gorgeous owl print. I folded the fabric double on the cross grain, which meant that one set of legs had the print on upside down. To save fights, each girl sewed one leg right way up and one with the print upside down. I told them it was so that the print looked right if they looked down at their own legs. Fortunately for me, they seemed happy wit this explanation.

That car print is gorgeous, any way you look at it.

Joy said...

It's a really fun shirt, even if "his mother did make it"! I have that same print in another colorway. Or I "had", since I used it on a case for my kindle.

gwensews said...

That's a great shirt. Love the cars, regardless of which direction they are going!

Hen said...

When I saw your gorgeous Australian answer to the Hawaii shirt, I remembered this fabric and wondered if you already sewed it up. Nice! Hope you don't get more of those questions...

Mary Nanna said...

You know, that shirt doesn't say to me "my mum made it " since the print is quite detailed, any variations will not be noticed.

For reference, here's what says to me, "mother's busy hands"

- cutting corduroy without nap and having the light hit the wales in different intensities. Clown suit territory.
- zipping up a front hoodie and the pockets on either sides are miles apart
- unevenly sewn hems
- facings with the wrong weight of interfacing that look stiff and bubbly.
- garments that are the wrong size but the child has to wear them anyway since you are not going to let all that hard work go to waste.
- poor pattern to fabric match - a shirt in fabric that is too heavy or has no drape

And.. I'm pretty sure to have done all of them, when I was a young sewer myself..

what's more, the best indicator to me that I haven't constructed something well or it looks terrible is when people ask me if I've made it. If they have to ask, it means it stands out in some way. That is never a good thing.

Carolyn said...

That's a wonderful print, and he looks mighty pleased with himself in his shirt. Beautifully done...

Pascale from Paris said...

Oooh, I made a boy's shirt from almost the same print. My little one chose the print in chade of navy blue, red, violet, orange and white. And I made a mistake on the sleeves: one is Ok and on the other one the cars are runing the wheels in the airs.... Not to mention the inside yoke and the inside collar, with the same problem. It seemes that only me notice it... My last one, 3 years old, start school this year and "order" this shirt to me for his first day of school, did I mention, I finish it just in time, 2 hours and a half in the morning?
My son really like his shirt "avec les petites voitures" ("with the little cars").

Anyway this print is beautifull and the boys love it.
Hubby said to me he was too old for this print in a entire
shirt, but perhaps on a hidden detail, such as inside
collar...

I think, I prefer the shade of your son'shirt and wanted choice it, but my little one prefer his and was sure of his choice in the fabric store, so...
Your version is very nice and your son seemes to be very happy with it.

Pascale

Pascale

Gail said...

Cute shirt. I didn't notice the direction the cars were travelling.

TE said...

Maybe it's the northern hemisphere influencing me. What's wrong with the cars? The wheels are under the cars, right? Please tell me what I'm missing here - I'm the only one who doesn't get the joke.

kbenco said...

From my point of view, the cars on the sleeves are lying on their sides, rather than having their wheels facing down to the ground. It annoys me every time I see the shirt - but does not bother the boy, he has been wearing it constantly!