Sharon Sews

As much as I love the look of a crisp collar on a stand, I avoided sewing shirts that had collar bands because I could never seem to produce a nice smooth band. I would follow the pattern guide sheet instructions so carefully, take my time sewing, trim the seam just right...only to have to rip out yet another ugly band and start over. A few years ago, when I decided to actually read through some of the books in my sewing library, I discovered other techniques for attaching a collar band. The problem was every time I was ready to sew a collar with a stand I would waste time flipping through book after book after book grumbling to myself " I know one of these books had something about collar stands. Now which one was it? " Finally, after finding instructions in one of the many sewing books I own, I would struggle again as there were little to no illustrations or photos to help guide me as I read the text. I don’t know about you but I need a few photo...

After sewing the fun BWOF skirt (blogged about here ) I realized there was a striped shirting fabric hiding in my closet with the exact blue of the skirt that would look great in a button front shirt. The end result is a bit more casual than what I usually wear, but it's good to try new things right? The shirt is sewn from Simplicity 3684 . It's not only one of the Threads Magazine Collection designs, but it's one of Simplicity's B,C,D cup size patterns. Which means no fiddling around with an FBA. Which means more time for sewing. The pattern includes a bib front version as well as a button front version. There is a separate front band as well as a separate collar stand for the collar. Both take a bit more time to sew but, in my opinion, are well worth the extra time. The shirt can be sewn tunic length with side hem slits or shorter with a curved shirt hem. The darts in both the front and back combined with the curve side seam of the pattern result in a nicely shaped...