The Iris Ruffle Skirt by Phat Quarters

I’m happy to announce that my second pattern for Phat Quarters has just released! (To see my first, click here.) Please welcome the Iris Ruffle Skirt! This skirt is such a fun pattern to sew up. And in testing we saw just how many different looks you can achieve with it! The testers really rocked it out.

I took inspiration from my week 3 look during my time on Project Run and Play. You can revisit that look here.

The pattern is on sale for only $5 until 2/18/19 so be sure to grab your copy soon!

 

Until next time, happy crafting!

Wendy

The Making of a Party Shirt (Part 2)

Today we pick up where we left of from The Making of a Party Shirt (Part 1).

Step 4: Prepare the sleeves before attaching them to the shirt body: attaching the placket.

Before attaching the sleeves to the shirt body, you will reattach the placket. Many times you will be able to remove the placket and keep the button in place, but you may find it easier to sew if you remove the button and replace it after the placket is sewn down. There are a few types of plackets so this is where any photos you took while disassembling will come in handy.

To reattach my plackets, I first cut out a Y shape in my new fabric based on the original sleeves.

Then I take the placket and sandwich my new fabric between the placket layers. The Y shape allows me to pull the fabric into a straight line and line it up with the placket. Pins will be your friend in this step, especially around the top of the Y shape, to ensure that you catch enough of the new fabric between the placket.

It’s also important to be sure the center of the fabric (the triangle wedge you see on the right) is lined up in the center of the placket where it naturally wants to fold to its original shape. Once you have the placket pinned into place, topstitch it down following the original seam holes or as close to the edge as you can, while ensuring you’ve caught all layers.

After the placket is attached, follow the original creases and fold the placket into shape. Pin in place, then topstitch the fold down following the original markings.

Repeat for the opposite sleeve, then they are ready to attach to the shirt.

Step 5: Attaching the sleeve to the shirt body.

Making sure the right sleeve is attached to the right side, pin the shirt sleeve to the main body, easing in the shoulder area as needed. I use a 3/8″ seam allowance and then finish my seam with a serger. You can also use a zig zag stitch to finish the seam to keep the edges neat. Finally, I topstitch along the outside of the seam to help the seam lie flat when worn by pressing the seam allowance towards the shirt body. Repeat for opposite side.

Step 6: Sew up the side seams.

After the sleeves are attached, sew the shirt front and back and shirt sleeves along the sides. As before, after stitching them together, finish your seams with your method of choice (e.g. serger or zig zag stitching).

Step 7: Attach the cuffs.

Most sleeves will have a number of pleats at the cuff to help fit the fullness of the sleeve into the cuff. Use the original sleeves to mark out where your pleats should be in your new sleeves. Press the pleats and pin in place.

After the pleats are set, place the edge of the sleeve between the layers of the cuff. **Note: you may need to adjust your pleats slightly to fit your cuff.

When the cuff is in place and the pleats are set, topstitch the cuff into place making sure to back stitch at the beginning and the end of the cuff to secure it into place.

Step 8: Hem the shirt.

This is where the optional rolled hem foot comes in handy. Most dress shirts that I have found use a rolled hem along the bottom. If you aren’t familiar with a rolled foot, check out my previous post on how to use one here. If you do not have a rolled hem foot, you can make a narrow hem by folding the fabric over 1/4″, two times and stitching into place.

Here is how I use the rolled hem foot for my shirts.

Begin by using the existing fold from the original shirt front to begin your roll. Feed the rolling fabric into the sewing foot. Once the fabric is in place, put your foot down and begin stitching, guiding the fabric as you go. The foot should fold up the fabric for you, creating an even hem along the bottom.

After you’ve stitched the length of the hem and you are close to the original shirt hem, stop, place your needle down to hold the fabric into place, then remove the fabric from the foot. Place your foot back down, then finish off the hem, going slightly into the original hem to secure the ends.

If you find that not all of your fabric edges get caught in your rolled hem, especially at the beginning or the end, use a little fray check to seal the edges.

And that’s it! You’ve made a party shirt!

As usual, thanks for reading along, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments below.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Wendy

The Making of a Party Shirt (Part 1)

What if I told you all of these fine upstanding young gentlemen had a secret? Would you be able to guess what it was? If you’ve read the title, or heard of a party shirt before you’re probably already two steps ahead of me.

What you can’t see under their jackets are these:

A couple years ago, I made a handful of these special party shirts for my cousin’s wedding. What is a party shirt? It’s a button down shirt that’s been transformed by changing out the sleeves and/or the back to have a fun an unique look once the jackets are removed and the party begins. During the ceremony, the guests were unaware that there was anything unusual about the groom and his men’s attire. But they were all in for a special treat once the reception began!

Party shirts are also very common in the military community to be worn to formal functions. With their jackets, they look the part of the formal uniform, but once the dancing begins the jackets come off and the party begins.

Recently the couple requested one last shirt to give to a friend, and since I had some extra time and no pressure of a looming wedding date, I documented the process to share this tutorial with you.

Supplies needed in addition to a sewing machine:

• a long sleeve button down shirt/mess dress shirt (military)
• 2 yards of similar weight/feel fabric as the shirt you are using (I most commonly use cotton or quilters cotton)
  • 1 yard for the sleeves
  • 1 yard for the back
• coordinating thread
• scissors
• pins or clips
• (optional) rolled hem foot

Let’s begin!

Step 1: Disassembling the shirt.

Generally, the process is the same for any shirt. Begin with removing the side seams of the shirt, up through the arms until you reach the cuff. Then you remove the sleeves from the body of the shirt. Then remove the back from the yoke. Then you can remove the cuffs and plackets from the sleeves.

Many shirts have two layers of stitching to be removed before a seam can be separated. Often times, one of these layers is a single coverstitch. These can be easily removed if you know how to pull them out. To check if you have a coverstitch row to remove, look for stitching like this:

The left side is the side you want to work with, the bottom side of the stitching, which looks like connected chains. The right side (the top side of the stitching) looks like regular straight stitching. Once you find the correct side, you should be able to cut the bottom (looper) thread and have it easily pull and unravel itself. If it doesn’t pull and unravel easily, try starting at the opposite end of the seam. (For video demonstration of this, check out this YouTube video.)

Be sure to label each of your pieces so you know which sleeve cuff belongs to which side and which side is the right and wrong sides of all the pieces. **Tip: if your shirt is not exactly like the one I use in this tutorial, or just for future reference when assembling the new pieces, take your own photos as you disassemble the shirt so you can see how to reconstruct it later on. This is especially helpful with the plackets on the sleeves.

Set aside the cuffs, plackets, and shirt front with collar until you are ready to reassemble. I typically keep one sleeve cuff and placket intact until I am ready to use those pieces so I can keep track of which cuff belongs to which side and use the other disassembled sleeve as my pattern piece for both sides.

Step 2: Cut your new shirt pieces from your party fabric.

Take the back piece and one of the shirt sleeves and lay them out on your fabric, using them as your pattern pieces. You will need one new back piece, and two sleeves (mirrored).

When cutting out the back piece, I do not remove the hem in the back, and instead add approximately an extra 1/2″ to the bottom of my new back piece to accommodate the hem in a later step. You may choose to undo the hem if you wish and cut it as an exact piece, but I have found it to be a time-saver to skip that step and add length when cutting.

Step 3: Begin reassembly by attaching the new back to the shirt front.

Start by marking the center of the new shirt back, and align it to the center back of the yoke. Once you have the centers lined up, pin the back between the layers of the yoke making sure the top and bottom pieces are lined up.

Once you have the new back pinned in place, topstitch along the yoke to secure the back in place, using the previous holes from the original seam as a guide.

With the back in place, you’re ready to begin reassembling the sleeves, which we will resume in The Making of a Party Shirt (Part 2).

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns in the comments below!

Until next time, happy crafting!

Wendy