Shirt Month Wrap Up

April was some month, huh?!  I've shown 8 shirts that were sewn either earlier this year or specifically during the month of April. I combined them all together so that they were given the platform they deserved, thus April being Shirt Month! I'm finished sewing shirts for awhile because the weather is finally changing and I have loads of spring things I want to make.

So let's review ~

First was the "Hurrying Spring Along" shirt that was made from a border print cotton sateen and a sponsored post for Elliott Berman fabrics.

Next up was a Black shirt with black 'n white gingham accents - because I don't own a black shirt and need one.

My third shirt was a mid-weight chambray shirt - the perfect casual shirt to wear over jeans and one of my personal favorites for the month.

Then there is the black/white/gray dot shirt - that had so many techniques included in it's construction and still it worked.

The fifth shirt was a designer inspired pinstripe shirt with white collar and cuffs - the one that will probably get the least amount of wear.

A funky orange print shirt was the sixth shirt...a lot of print matching with that one! 

Seven and eight were versions of white shirts because everyone needs one right?!

I'm happy with most of the shirts but that's due to wearability factors rather than sewing ones. I've gotten sewing the buttons on by machine down and am using two new sewing machine feet...especially my gathering foot which is a time-saver and revelation. By sewing so many of the same garment type back to back, it's caused my sewing skills to elevate to another level - so I'm thrilled about that!

I love being able to play with the design features - adding contrasting fabric to the collars, cuffs and front button bands, changing the sleeves, adding embellishments and making fabric choices - these all have contributed to making sewing so much fun this month.

Quarterly In & Out Totals ~
I've used up quite a bit of fabric - 21 yards - which doesn't include the Border Print Shirt since that was a sponsored post.  That total makes me happy because that's 21 yards out of the collection. However, my March totals for fabric in (from Sew Camp weekend) is 21.5 yards and then I bought some more shirting in April from Fabric Mart (y'know the stuff that wasn't on the website when we were there) another 14.5 yards.  Then I bought 3 yards of an amazing digital linen that was on sale at Fabric.com and 3 yards of an embroidered stripe from EOS.  

This makes my end of quarter results - 13 garments sewn, 34.5 yards of fabric out and 42 yards in.  That means I've added 7.5 yards more than I've sewn out. Imma have to be really careful for the next few months about purchasing fabric before Sew Camp. I know I can't escape buying fabric from Fabric Mart with an onsite visit but I need to be more vigilant until then. Since my main goal this year was to sew out more than I bought in at the rate I'm sewing, Imma need to burn my credit cards! *LOL*

Conclusion ~
I want to thank everyone for following along, leaving a comment and/or suggestion and appreciating my shirts.  I've enjoyed making and sharing them on social media. My shirt wardrobe has really been beefed up and I will be ready when fall rolls around. I truly hope that you gained some inspiration, maybe a few design ideas and some sewing tips/techniques from the series. Because now that it's May, I will be moving on to sew a variety of other garments.

Thanks again!!!

...as always more later!