I'm posting today about The Henry Shirt, but be advised, he's not quite wearable. He's done. He just needs a bit more tweaking, but since I've been messing around with this pattern all month, I thought I'd be best to give him a rest before I try to tackle the issues. I cringe to even post this, but as the Sew Along coordinator, it is important for me to "keep it real", right?
Let's start with the positive. I love the fabrics. I love the little details of the shirt. The collar and paneling are darling. I went the extra step and added double top-stitching along the pockets and collar. Since I was making this for my 6 year old, I'm not worried about the shallow pockets. I'm confident he can understand they are a decorative element of the shirt and not meant to hold large objects.
I love the pearl snaps. I did not plan on alternating the colors but one must improvise when she cracks a few along the way. Note to self: buy pearl snaps in bulk so you always have enough of the color you want to use.
And I love the box pleat. To me, it makes it truly feel like a real, big boy shirt.
Okay, honesty time. This is an advanced pattern. And while I don't consider myself an advanced sewer, I was confident I could take it slow and get it right. And the problem was not the pattern. I clearly needed a bit more in the visual department. I thought the sew along with Bilingual Baby and Thar She Sews would cover the missing links but even their pictures could not help me. I might need a sewing tutor. And I know that I really should be proud of myself considering the facts. 1. I've never in my life sewn a yoke. Certainly not a raglan yoke. 2. I've never sewn a collar.
That darn yoke, which you can see from the picture above, is STILL. NOT. CORRECT. The problem is mainly the outer yoke, so maybe, just maybe, I traced the pattern incorrectly?
And some of you may be thinking, Stacey, it's not that big of a deal. Just retrace the pattern piece and do that part over again. A little seam ripping never hurt anyone! But what you don't yet realize, is that I've actually sewn this shirt TWICE. Because, yes, I'm that stupid. The first time I sewed the front and side panels in the wrong order. And not realizing this, I continued sewing and didn't realize what I'd done until the yoke was not lining up correctly. And still it took me looking through Flickr pictures to see what is was that I'd done. Enter the seam ripper. For. The. Entire. Shirt. Hence my frustration.
So. He's done. But not done because if I want the kid to actually wear this shirt made of beautiful fabrics, I've got to figure out what I've done. And that will have to wait, because I just can't stand the thought of ripping out those seams. Again.
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