A year later

My ever-patient little brother asked me for a custom shirt. A year ago. He has trouble finding shirts that fit, as he is 6'3" with broad shoulders and long arms from years of surfing and a slim build. Off the rack shirts fit his shoulders but billowed around his middle, or he always had to roll his sleeves to conceal how short they were. He was dutifully measured, questioned, and sent to buy fabric. Did I mention he has fantastic and expensive taste? He came back with yards of the softest white Egyptian cotton from Britex in SF, thinking it would be such a treat for me to sew such otherworldly fabric.

Uh....the receipt fell out of the bag when I was unpacking his fabric, and I had a panic attack. He wanted me to cut into THIS?! Oh good grief. I was scared to touch it, for fear of making a tiny mark and just general fear of screwing the whole thing up. Also, once I mustered up the courage to try, ALL my chalk marks were visible from the right side and I was fearful that they might not wash out all the way afterward. This is SERIOUSLY sheer cotton! And even though I had made a muslin, there were enough fiddly bits to alter that I was, shall we say, a bit nervous.

So it's not a surprise that this project sat for a bit, oh, say thirteen months or so! He gave up asking about it after six months, nice guy that he is. Meanwhile, the guilt was killing me! So, just in time for his birthday on June 26th, I bought the Colette Negroni pattern and used some blue cotton oxford cloth I has thrifted months earlier and whipped up a shirt for him in about ten days. I used his earlier measurements and did some alterations (without fear, I might add, as I have about two yards of fabric left over). The sleeve packets were a bitch, but I religiously referred to the Male Pattern Boldness sewalong and made it through. 

Anyway, here it is. Sadly, I don't have photos of him actually wearing it, yet, but I hope to post one soon. It fit great, although it was a little long for his taste.