Liberating the Liberty

Wow - thanks everyone for leaving a comment on the last post about my red jacket. I think that is the most comments I've ever received, except for those times when I made a baby, so I guess that jacket is the third most special thing I've made!

I haven't done much sewing in the last week but I'm finally getting around to blogging a shirt I made a few weeks ago, the last garment I made in my stash busting entry actually. At our very first Sydney sewist's/blogger meet up back in November 2012 I only bought three pieces of fabric - some blueberry ponte and Liberty cotton from Tessuti, and some blue floral cotton voile from The Fabric Store. After making the ponte and cotton voile into dresses (here and here) I am pleased to announce I've finally used the Liberty cotton thus using up all the fabric I bought that day!

I only bought 1.5m of the fabric at the time thinking a blouse would be the best use (and because it's quite expensive) but I hesitated every time I went to use it because it's just so lovely. But then I realised it's only cotton, and I can easily buy more to replace it if I stuff it up so I should just get on with it. So I bit the bullet and made it into a long sleeved button down shirt that I've made several times before:



The print I bought is Liberty Wiltshire, which has been in their classics line since 1971 and was originally designed in 1933. It doesn't seem to be available on Tessuti's online shop but you can buy from Shaukat & Company.

You will laugh when you see the pattern I've used, because frankly it's an ugly 1980s pattern that is rightly OOP and should never be sewn as intended unless you were going to a costume party. But it's a size 6 which is the perfect size for my narrow shoulders and small bust - I just add width from the waist down to make sure it fits over my waist and hips. Ok, are you ready for the pattern reveal?

Yee ha! It's a cowboy inspired shirt which is just plain wrong. You can see I picked up this pattern in an op shop for the princely sum of 20c!! Obviously I made this without the attractive yoke or bow tie and also resisted the urge to add any fringing! I've made this at least 3 times previously that I can remember (pre blogging days), and I still frequently wear one that I made in a textured white cotton so I just knew it would be an easy sew. At some time in the past I actually traced the pattern and made it into a personal block pattern for my go-to shirt pattern.

It has an extra wide cuff that uses three buttons instead of two, which is a nice point of difference to an otherwise standard pattern (ignoring those cowboy points of difference that is):

Although I usually prefer to wear my long sleeved shirts folded up for a more casual look.

And in that fountain of knowledge that is Pinterest I discovered (after taking these photos) that there is a special way to fold up your sleeves so that the cuff is still visible - the J Crew method that apparently is the "perfect way".

I love this shirt - I wish I didn't take so long to take the plunge to make it! I've worn it to work under a boring dark grey suit, I've worn it casually with my green skirt to make it a very colourful combination, as well as the more standard combination of a denim skirt and dark denim jeans. I realy like wearing lightweight long sleeved shirts in summer to keep the sun off my skin, so this has been perfect for a few really hot days we've had recently. And look - I've braved the nosy, quizzical looks of onlookers and took a photo of myself out in public!

Won't be doing that too often though, I felt a bit silly doing it!

Tomorrow is my ASG sewing day - hopefully I can knock over my September Burda project and make up for my lack of productivity this week. I'm itching to make some summery dresses now that our weather has really heated up, you know the usual - so many projects so little time!