Sewing Bee Round 2

 The challenge: make a garment where the collar is the primary focus.

Lots of options there!

I searched around on the internet for inspiration. Coincidentally, one possible collar that I found was an excerpt from a Threads magazine - the one that I just happened to have from the library at my home! (The bow-like one)

A PR member posted a pinterest board, and even though I don't have my own pinterest account, I was able to look at this, and was intrigued by the collar with the cut-out. I found the blog where it was posted, but nothing more. (Rhonda Buss). She said that she thought it was called a kimono cat-eye cut-out, but that yielded nothing similar. This one caught my attention because I could not at first get my head around how they had done it! And it was unique. The Japanese fabric probably also spoke to me! 

I was also very much drawn to the high collars - vampire collars if you will! The middle collar in the third line of the collage in the photo, for example.

I was leaning heavily towards the cut-out collar, though, and just did a trial on some scrap fabric to see how one might go about doing the cut out then sewing the collar. The second question though, is what shirt body to use... I kind of wanted something fitted, that I could maybe where with  my Marta skirts. The fact that I could use fabric I already had was a plus!

I ended up (against frock-friend advice, I should add!), choosing the Butterick shirt with a twist. The thought was the collar and the twist were at odds. However, since I was going to use black silk (upcycled kimono), I thought the twist would be understated. And, frankly, it was the only suitable option available to me!

FABRIC: I settled on the short kimono. It has an amazing illustrated panel as lining, which is why I had purchased it in Yanagawa some 25 years ago. But the main body was a silky silk (I am sure it has a name, but I don't know it!). I tossed into the wash for a delicate rinse. A tie got caught in the door and water leaked. (oops) We never QUITE know how to problem solve with this machine when this happens, but we figured out how to drain the machine, the spin it, then wait patiently until the door unlocked! It took me two evenings to take it apart. Although it is hand-sewn, this is a challenge because it is so intricately folded into itself that at times it is hard to get at the seams!

For the collar I went with a piece left from a previous kimono upcycle. I had actually made this into a skirt when we lived in Japan, and I had this left. 

I thought the contrast of the goldy background on the collar and the black body would allow this collar to be, as required, the primary focus. 

The photo here shows what it was going to looklike!

And here is the kimono deconsstructed!

My absolute favourite piece of this kimono,though is the lining, which I am saving for now!

And below - see how long the piece is?!

SEWING THE SHIRT BODY

My previous makes of this were just a bit snug, but because of the shape of the pattern pieces, it was not obvious to me where to adjust it. I took a good look at my finished shirt and the pattern pieces, and decided to add 1/4 inch to each centre back seam, and scoop out the armholes a bit, and to add a bit to the side seams (I was able to locate them).

What is interesting when sewing with Kimono pieces is that even if you have selvedge to selvedge it is very narrow, and so in order to get pieces that can accommodate my pattern I needed to sew pieces together. This makes piecing seams at unexpected places. I am fine with this (but I think it made the shape of the centre back seam a bit weird).

SEWING THE COLLAR:

I adjusted the collar to make it longer, and reach into the bare spot of the neck/chest. My first mock-up of the collar was the wrong shape; so second iteration I rounded it out. Now it looked fine. I tried this on an already made up version of the shirt, to try and get a vision of it in my head.

So I had successfully created the cut-out, and found the size and shape that suited.  At this point I knew that I had to sew the right and left collars separately, there would be no way to turn it right sides out if there were two cut-outs. 

Next step was to sew the collar edges - right sides together. So I did the 'burrito style' - I wrapped the collar pieces AROUND the cut out, so that the right sides were together and the rest of the collar inside, then sewed it as far as I could, then pulled it to the right side. I could not get all the way to the edge withough making a mess - it was too narrow. So in the end I decided to fold the ends into the inside and hand sew with a more-or-less invisible stitch. 

I also lengthened the sleeves - using a different shirt pattern with a 'slit' at the cuff as a model. I was hoping to make it just above the elbow - but forgot I would be folding it up, so it is shorter than planned.

I am a bit underwhelmed by the final product. It is wearable, but it does not have the impact that I was hoping for. I also could have done a better pressing job!