A shirt for my boy - Kwik Sew 1190

I have been sewing a fair bit for my daughter lately. I never got around to blogging them, but she has had a few pairs of leggings and some dresses made for her. Anyway, the boy needed a good shirt or two and he was finally big enough to try out the vintage Kwik Sew shirt pattern I had picked up when he was young from the op-shop. Back when the op-shops around town actually sold patterns and buttons and other sewing bits and pieces. Now many of those op shops have closed or culled their craft section.

 This pattern features a seperate collar and collar stand, a front placket, back pleat, yoke at shoulder and cuffs complete with sleeve slit. Usually I would lean toward using an Ottobre pattern but Otto just doesn't seem to do shirts properly. This pattern uses 6mm seams, with 3mm seams at the slit. The fabric is actually a brown and white striped  winter weight cotton fabric.

When I finished this the other week, I was glad to see the end of it. It really was not my best sewing - I made a heap of mistakes. The process  for the slits  (sew facing piece with 3mm seams, then flip and topstich the other side) ended up showing the unfinished edge. It would have worked had this seam been 6mm, but 3mm was just to little to work with. I however only noticed after I had attached the cuffs. My remedy was to zigzag the edges. Luckily you don't really notice when the cuffs are closed up.

The other big boo boo was sewing the button hole to the wrong side of the cuff - I had even cut it open and everything. Once again you can't see it when the cuff is closed but seriously,  it was not a good sewing day.

I love love love this pattern and will make it up again, if only for the proper collar and placket. No doubt I will follow Sherry's sleeve slit method  next time and while this may result in having to change the cuff length, I would rather that then the exposed seams that I experienced.