I got this wild flight of fancy in the dark days of winter - you know when the days were short and darkness reigned. The time of year I hate the most and want to fill with the most color and light as possible.
Supplies ~
I was surfing fabric sites because I needed some comfort and found this amazing panel on fabric dot com with a coordinating print.
Doesn't this fabric just scream warm summer evenings! So yes, it's a quilting cotton but I've had success with other quilting cotton panels and after some hesitation because of price, I bought three panels. First off, I should have bought four...but we will get to that later! Oh and because I'm so timely (joke, joke) with this post, the fabric is long gone!
During February I took a week off to sew. I needed some days to sleep and create and this was the first project I worked on.
A few more photos of the process...
This back was a whole hot ass mess, so I put the shirt pieces away and worked on some other garments during my sewcation. While I working on the other pieces, I was pondering how to save this. Obviously the back was the main problem. It wasn't working and wouldn't work with the 24" panel width.
Construction Techniques ~
After I made that hot mess of a back, I had to come up with another look. I will admit the shirts I've been most comfortable wearing during the pandemic have the gathered lower back eased into the back yoke. Plenty of room for those extra pounds I gained. But I only had one panel for the back and I just couldn't see how to make it work. That's when that disastrous back was created and immediately ditched.
After thinking on it I decided a solid back would be the answer. I went and touched quilting cottons at the store. Then decided upon this printed blue fabric that I used to construct the back of the shirt.
Making the collar...
Inserted the sleeves, okay auditioning sleeves...
...and the back quilting cotton is making the shoulders and sleeves buckle because they aren't similar weights. *sigh* I should have known better.
I let this shirt sit for 2 weeks before admitting I was done. I don't want to save it. I don't want to add my good buttons to the front and finish it. I basically threw a hissy fit because I'm tired of it. So now it sits on the clothing rack. After a couple of weeks, I decided the fabric is too heavy to think about finishing now...so it sits. My first UFO for 2021.
Thus the title of the blog post - cause it's a hot mess! BTW, I've completed two pieces just have to photograph them. But it's summertime, my grandkids are getting older and my photographer (my daughter) has things planned for their family for the summer. I've scheduled a day so hopefully the completed items will be coming to the blog soon.
To all who celebrate, Happy Father's Day!
...as always more later!
I hate when that happens!!! The sleeves and front panels are a great look and then... I don't have the skills or creativity to suggest anything. But I do know sometimes discontinued fabric shows up on other sites just googling the name. (I lucked out doing this once). Too pretty to toss... Can't wait to see the other completed items.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion your shirt is too beautiful to abandon I would suggest you try what I have done in the past to equalize the weights of mixed cottons in one garment. I interline the lighter weight cottons with batiste or lawn, then there is little or no weight discrepancy between the various pieces. It may be worth a try to save this lovely shirt (thus far). It may be too warm for summer wear except as a shirt jacket.
ReplyDeleteDork's Mom - I will definitely remember this when I circle back to the shirt in the fall. It's hot here now so I've got summer sewing on my mind!
DeleteI am sorry that happened! I do admire your persistence in wanting to make it work since that panel is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe fabric is beautiful, and the design to use it looks great. Even though this specific panel is gone this gives us ideas for using similar panels. I hope you figure out a solution to construction issues, as the finished shirt looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThese panel prints are challenging. As you alluded to, they are first of all expensive if you get the needed amount. They are rarely in full yard increments. I think you did well with the eventual choice for you backing. I like that it simmered down all that was going on with the print. I think the garment needed that, as beautiful as the print was. I think you were on to something. I think maybe it just has to marinate a bit longer or get some out of the box ruminating. Great effort, Carolyn.
ReplyDeleteSleeveless and possibly something from the panel on the back yoke?
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing to share with us your "lessons learned" projects. You are so right, we all have them. And while I can empathize with how you feel about the garment now it is beautiful especially with the more solid back. So I vote (ha ha)to letting it sit longer and then adding the extra interfacing or interlining around the sleeve area for the lighter weight fabric. How about 3/4 or elbow length sleeves? I love the idea of taking some of the old back and adding it somewhere to the back. And once again you have shown us another way to use a border/panel fabric. Jean
ReplyDeleteHi I just want to let you know that I have followed your blog for a long time. I would like to say it is okay to let a project go. Sometimes I force myself to finish something I know I will not probably wear when finished. Recently I have let myself throw projects away rather than finish them. Just got to "let it go" sometimes. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you are truly over this project, donating it to a quilter might be an option. They have no shame or guilt in cutting up perfectly good fabric or even old thrifted men's shirts. That fabric is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI saw the same fabric...loved it...passed it by (I am really sticking to my fabric fast)
ReplyDeleteI do use quilting cotton a lot these days....They almost always get much softer with wear and washing.
Although I do love the one of each sleeves
I personally would switch out the heavier cotton to an eyelet or something.
That being said, it sounds like the project needs to be out of sight for a while at least
Love your fabric panels and applaud you for working it out even though it did not work out to your satisfaction. At least you only have 1 UFO, my UFO's are piling up quickly.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Dork's Mom in regards to adding a bit of stabilizer to the lighter weight fabric. You might be able to get away with just adding it in seam allowance. On the other hand, if you had not pointed out that there was any buckling.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a cute summer-weight jacket. It would be great to keep in the car for those times when you go into a business or restaurant and they've set the AC to "Antarctic Winter".
We had our first good lighting bug rise last night. I get so excited- I'm like a 5-year-old. I missed them when I lived in the Netherlands and in the Bay Area, as neither place has them.
I think it's BEAUTIFUL as is! Don't be sew hard on yourself - roll up the offending sleeve & WEAR IT! You just wait to hear all the great comments you'll receive & no one will notice that something is a little off - just smile & say thank-you!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can find more of one of the original fabrics on etsy or ebay? The fabric is beautiful and it would be a shame to have to trash it completely.
ReplyDeleteI make a lot of wearable art, so my comments are w/that in mind. First, the fabric line is not that old. Just google "let your light shine cotton fabric" and you will find it all over the internet. For MY aesthetic (maybe not yours) the leaf fabric is too busy for the sleeves. Switch it out for the blue on the back. Draft a new back with a yoke and and inverted pleat lower back w/another fabric for the pleat insert. Use the leaf for the yoke, the solid blue (if you have enough) for the lower back and the leaves or another print from the line for the insert. The colors in the panel are gorgeous and use them to your advantage. Good luck and don't give up on the shirt. Amazing how the things that challenge our imagination the most are the ones that we cherish the most.
ReplyDeleteTwo words: sleeve head. It's an inside-the sleeve support, an oval cut on the bias -- at the same curve as the top of your sleeve. Fold it in half, sew it into the top of your sleeve.
ReplyDeleteYour shoulder nestles into the sleeve head, supporting the garment from inside. That droopy indentation should disappear.
Thank you for sharing a boo-boo. It’s actually encouraging to a beginner like me. You sew so many successes that you can afford to drop a project. I do love the collar you made ( but I know that you can make another one). I like the ideas of a sleeveless shirt, a light jacket, and a gift to a quilter. I am about to make a skirt that I don’t think will look good on me, but I already cut out the fabric and I need the practice anyway. You don’t need the practice!
ReplyDeleteYou can get the panel here: https://thebrokenneedle.com/product/let-your-light-shine-banner-panel-24-1374pg-77-navy/. Hope that helps you solve your problem as I do love this shirt.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ann but I'm not buying another one of those panels. I actually like the shirt with the solid back and sleeves. I was disappointed with how the sleeve insertions went. I'm going to take the advice of either adding a sleeve head or interfacing the lighter weight fabric. I appreciate you finding the fabric though!
DeleteI like the shirt with the solid color back. I really think this has great potential and letting it alone during the summer, will give your creative brain time to visualize a new solution!
ReplyDeleteThe "Let Your Light Shine" collection from Blank Quilting is still available from lots of online sources, including Etsy. There also appear to be other companion fabrics in addition to the leafy one you originally bought.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm wondering if you could use some of your existing companion fabric just for the back yoke. If I'm understanding what you're saying, doing that might eliminate or reduce the bunching problem.
I absolutely love that panel and companion fabrics. And I love the front of that piece you've made. I'm betting it can be saved once you're done being mad at it. :-)
Like the print sleeve with the solid back. I too did not have enough of a beautiful sunflower fabric to make an entire dress . So I chose the ble from the print and made the back. I get wow when worn , cause it is a double take kinda style. Wait and finish this!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like Etsy might have some of the fabric. It is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit late to reading this... I like the solid blue back better than the first one. It's too late to go back now, but I wonder how that back panel would have looked left whole in the center with the other fabric on the sides (not so front and center in your face) Anyway, I'm glad you will revisit this in the fall since despite the summer theme, the fabric isn't really suitable for summer. And thank you for posting about a project that's gone off the rails. So often people will not show those. It reaffirms that I'm not the only one who's projects sometimes don't live up to the vision.
ReplyDelete