planetologist shirt

Imp

NELS + new shirt (named by my son because it looks like a “science shirt” and he still wants to study planets for a living).

Rolled-Up Sleeves

Rolled-up sleeves. Semi-sheer 100% super-soft cotton. Slim fit; adjusted from a McCall’s 2146 to accomodate my tall, slim boy.

Now, some construction details (clicking thru to the Flickr tagset reveals a few more comments):

Shoulder Seam; Bias-Bound

The shoulder/sleeve seam: finished by purchased bias-binding. Very quick, effective, and looks good when showing through the semi-sheer cotton fabric.

Collar

Collar and shoulder. Used up some interfacing that was kinda wonky, and cheap. In fact the whole shirt was very inexpensive; most of it was thrifted.

Button/Thread/Glue

Usually I do an invisible-knot for buttons. I liked the idea of little comet-y thread tails with this goldenrod cotton twist. After tying and clipping, I carefully coated the knot and thread in fabric glue.

Side Seams: Double-Stitched Then Pinked

Finishing: when not flat-felled or French seamed or bound, I prefer a pinked seam allowance over a serged one.

Buttons; Vintage/Thrift For Cheap

These wonderful glass buttons had thread grooves! When the shirt wears out I’ll probably cut the buttons off. If the shirt is not too stained or torn I’ll send it off to another family who likes homesewn goodness.

Contemplation

Nels is beautiful.

Summer Tan

Of course.

the fleeting, ephemeral pants. & a killer coat.

So, do you like these pants?

Backside

Jaunty

Wood-Chopping Pants
That’s great, because if you do, you can have them. They took me a few hours to make, using scraps, thrift store seam binding, and a pair of Ralph’s old pants.* About six hours into his first wearing The Boy decided to wash his hands with a bleach / soap spray bottle and now the pants are “distressed” on one side with several reddish bleach spots.

Size 110 cm, up for grabs.

Just so you know, this is Classic Nels. What can you do?

Sunday at JoAnn’s I purchased 13 yards of fabric and some matching thread. The total: $92. I am falling in love with my little White serger (purchased for $100 + shipping on eBay):

13 Yards ($90)
In this case, I serged the ends of the 13 yards I’d purchased. This means I can wash these lengths of fabric and the threads won’t come out, knot, wrinkle the fabric, and in general make a mess.

Pocket On Bias
Nels’ coat from last year is wearing out. I’m making a new one, a blazer of sorts (Burda 9671). The project gives meaning to the phrase “clothing construction”. I cut out a total of 41 pieces of fabric: this includes the shell fabric, full underlining (a wool blend for the coat body, a simple cotton for the sleeves), and lining; all this plus nine pieces of interfacing. I basted the shell, underlining, and interfacings then serge-finished all these pieces:

Construction Of A Coat
Thank you again, serger! Taking all this time to properly prepare the coat is making sewing a joy. Updated project photos will be found here and in this Flickr tagset.

* I’ve made them before, several times.