My (almost) first shirt

 

Stripe shirt

I wanted a dress shirt. I needed a dress shirt. Shirts are expensive. Shirts need to fit well. I took on a challenge. I bit more than I could chew.

The draft

Honestly, it is not my first shirt . There was one before. It was drafted according to the Rudschau system (M. Mueller). It was okay. I was not very happy with the fit, and it was not very comfortable to wear, because I drafted the sleeve too narrow.

This time around I started from scratch. Again I employed the Rundschau drafting system and followed it to the T. I was careful not to make the sleeve too narrow. The result was far from perfection. See exhibit A.

Exhibit A. Front
Exhibit A. Back

I drafted the shoulders slope too square (diagonal folds from the chest down). I found the shoulder width too wide. There was a lot of ease in the sleeve. The sleeves were too long. The collar too small.

Completion of the 2-year project

I made the changes. Re-cut the fabric (a linen from Fabricville), started to put it all together and… it ended up in the unfinished pile for almost 2 years. This summer I pulled it out. Finished it. It felt good to complete something.

Sleeve cuff before buttonholes
Sleeve seem
Shirt felled seems
Preparing felled seem before setting the sleeve

The result is that again, it is not perfection. I added to the collar, but it is still too tight on the neck. I aggressively narrowed the shoulders – the proportions and the fit are still off. There is probably not enough ease in the sleeve, so there is pulling in the front of the armpit – the shirt is not so comfortable again.

Wearable toille

I am still on my learning curve.