Weekend Project: Custom Dress Shirt

Last week was Jo-Anns Coupon Commotion week, so of course I had to go! While I was there, I found, and fell in love with this gorgeous print! As soon as I saw it, the idea to use it for the back and collar and to leave the rest of the shirt black just instantly hit me, and I fell in love! So with a plethora of 50% off coupons in hand, I got everything I needed for it, all half-off! Total cost? Less than $25!

Took these photos with my webcam.

For the shirt, I used Simplicity pattern 2741. This is the fourth time I've used this exact pattern and the seventh dress shirt I've made total. By far, this was the easiest and smoothest construction process I've gone through with making a shirt! I still had to do some seam ripping from catching unwanted fabric and a couple puckers, but nowhere near as much as I normally do!

If I were to do it over, I probably would make some minor changes. Other than for the buttons and buttonholes, I sewed the entire shirt with my walking foot. I would have probably had better results using a general foot for the top-stitching, as there's less room for wiggling and messing up the stitching line! Also, I probably would have added some top stitching all around the cuff, and may still add it. I also would have modified the collar pattern a bit to make a pocket for some collar stays...

From a lot of the discussions on Facebook, Google+, and around the internet, it seems most people are a bit intimidated by menswear, but really, it's not that difficult! Seriously, I've been sewing less than a year and am already getting some great results (and profiting from them). My advice for anyone interested in apparel or menswear construction, is to buy a pattern labeled easy-to-sew (such as the Simplicity 2741) and some cheap, plain fabric, do a little research on YouTube, and then just dive in!!! By just doing it, you'll get yourself so much closer to getting the polished results you're looking for! :)

If there's enough demand, I may even make a video series for YouTube showing how to construct a dress shirt... ;) In the meantime, here are a few construction photos:

Front, back, and double yoke sewn together.

View from the back.

Collar and collar stand added.

With the sleeves.

'Til next time,
BH