Sew Your Own Affordable Luxury - Silk and Liberty Lawn Shirts.

 More shirts ! No exaggeration , I love sewing them.
First up a cream silk shirt using Vogue 2634 , an OOP pattern .
I just wanted a very simple pattern to showcase the beautiful cream silk that has a self small chequered pattern . I bought the silk from the op shop last year  for only $2.00 for 4 metres but it is very narrow ( only 72cm wide ) . At the time I was trying to fabric fast so I kidded myself that the silk would be for my daughter who wanted tops made out of natural fibres for her travel overseas in 2018 . Ha ! cream silk must be the most impractical thing in the world for a student travelling on a strict budget.
Just in case she changed her mind though I have quickly made it up while she is still away.
The only variation I made to this pattern was to add vented cuffs from a Kwik Sew pattern. I did not do any top stitching , did not add the pockets and hand stitched the hems to keep the shirt details to a minimum.

 

I used the collar tutorial from Four Square Walls which she took from an old sewing pattern. I remember using this method to sew up a collar / stand when I was in my teens so I went through my old patterns and sure enough I found a Simplicity pattern from the 80s that uses this order of collar construction. It really does make a very nice collar . I can not recommend it enough. 

Next up a liberty lawn shirt . I seem to be the giftee of atypical liberty lawn. This is my second liberty lawn project ,both generous gifts and not a floral in sight !  This particular liberty was a Xmas gift from my husband. It`s funny because he bought this after a Xmas work party in Melbourne . He told his colleagues he was off to The Fabric Store after lunch to buy me a chrissie present. They were apparently horrified that he was making work for me ! On the other hand my sewing group friends were very impressed that he did this off his own bat and said he is a keeper ! 

The pattern is called Matt Madison and consists of diamonds with little scenes of bare branched trees and lakes etc . Very wintery fabric with its grey and olive based tones . Unlike my first Liberty Lawn project I didn`t take years to decide what pattern to make and sew it up. 

I knew I wanted to make a shirt ( well that is all the fabric I had anyway ) and since it is an unusual Liberty I wanted to make a variation of a standard shirt pattern. I used Kwik Sew 3620 another OOP pattern. I love the collar and like the addition of the front ties. Another poorly kept  secret is how much I love the old Kwik Sew patterns and the way the collar is constructed is so neat . I used my rolled hem foot to mainly successfully finish off the front ties ( use your different sewing machine feet - really ! ) 

So there you have it .Two very different but luxury shirts that feel sooo nice to wear but cost a fraction of bought ones .  ( PS I actually really like floral Liberty lawn - I would love to get the  classic Wiltshire pattern with the berries on it . )