Shirts should not be hurried

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 20

Shirts should not be hurried

> Of all the garments made : at home blouses and shirts I seem to have the biggest I failure rate. Too often they ; end up half-made, tucked : into a drawer or cupboard i and forgotten because the ■ collar would not fit right or I the sleeves were pulling. i Often the problem is that : you have been in a hurry. : You rushed out, bought the | fabric and a pattern, cut ; and stitched without giving i time to marking, and ceri tainly not to tacking. i With careful preparation ! and attention to the small i details there is no room for i discouragement. i Shirts are probably the i most useful garment you ! ’ can have and today there I. are many styles, but the basic shirtneck blouse has never disappeared because it is so practical. However, you might find some of the styles that are popular now, such as the full sleeved polo neck shirt easier to make. With these, little fitting is required as the sleeve is part of the bodice and you are only required to sew a main underarm and extended shoulder seam. Fabrics can be almost anything from soft to crisp, patterned or plain. If you are making your first attempt it might be a good idea to use a patterned fabric as they are kinder to the over-all look, especially if you have a few mistakes to cover up. Setting in the sleeves and the collar are the main problems. Make sure you have cut the notches and pin them to match before sewing. Always work from the sleeve and not the bodice when pinning, tacking and sewing sleeves into armholes. Any fullness on the sleeves must be evenly distributed without folds or creases. If you find the fabric is too stiff to take all the fullness ease it out by deepening the seam allowance round the sleeve cap, not on the underarm section. Tack the sleeves then try on the shirt. Make adjustments if necessary and then

sew. Iron well before trying again. Collars are easy if you have cut to the pattern and remember to tack before sewing. The matchings on the under collar and the collar should match perfectly. Generally the collar should be a little fuller to allow for the turn out. Don’t forget to clip right round the collar seam — the neck edge. For a well finished look on shirts a French seam is often used. It is a double seam with the raw edge enclosed. With wrong sides facing, pin and stitch the seam about 9mm inside the seam line and trim. Turn the garment inside out and working on the wrong side stitch along the original seam line enclosing the raw f edges. If you intend to wear a shirt over trousers the tails should be well finished with splits at either side so there is no pull across the fabric.