Kalle shirt, mending

 It would have been nice to finish this bright red shirt for Canada day, but alas. Too much to do this last week of school... but I am done. (Well, just need to go back in and finish cleaning my classroom.)

I had done a bit of the Kalle during the week. Hard to keep track of when I did what, but I had worked on unstitching the red silk coat, then fitting the pieces for the Kalle shirt onto it. I know I have said this elsewhere, but it is hard to believe that there was not really enough fabric in this long sleeved, long coat for this short sleeve cropped shirt! So I had to piece it a bit.

The garment to be upcyled.

I had to use a different fabric for the facings (yoke facing and hem facing.) The colour is good, and it works, but weird!

This is the fifth time I have made the Kalle shirt, but the first time making the cropped top version and the band collar. Who could have predicted how much of a challenge those could be.

The hem facing joins the side seam in a particular way. and it was just a bit fiddly to get them to match. But what I had trouble with was making the top stitching look nice on the inside. (See photo below!).

the inner workings...

And the collar... Ugh. 

Collars are difficult for me - it is tough to get the ends tucked in nicely. So I am always interested in new techniques. I have used the method described in the Grainline Archer shirt - which has you do some collar gymnastics, but makes tuck in those pieces nicely.

I decided to follow the technique in the instructions, which also involve a bit of tucking in....  not your usual collar construction.

 And it DID NOT WORK FOR ME! But I did not realize this until I had made some major trimming... which set me up for a difficult time when I abandoned that method. I looked up the Closet Core tutorial, but they used white fabric on a white background, so it was not at all helpful. So if you are going to make this, muslin the collar technique first. It might be the bulk that added to my difficulty, but I can't get my head around it! My fix kind of worked out, and it does look fine!

I don't know why I find cuffs such a pain in the neck to install, as well. Is it because I am getting tired by the end of a garment, and I am not as careful? I find that I can't easily get the inner pieces lined up nicely, so my cuffs are a bit puckered.

In spite of the couple of flaws, I am sure I will love it! It is such a luxurious feeling fabric!

MENDING

I also did some mending for a guest! M and F were visiting, and M had a bag which she has had for 30 years. It is an artsy bag, linen or cotton with embroidery. The shoulder straps were worn beyond repair, so I fixed them. I cut some strips of denim and made two straps, then attached them to the lower part of the existing straps (which were still fine), sewed them on, and cut off the ratty bits. I considered replacing the straps entirely, but attaching them to the bag would have required more time than we were allotted. (The resident entomologist made a joke about '5 minutes left sewers' evoking the Great British Sewing Bee!