All Day (Christmas) Shirt: Vlisco / TRON version

Long before the All Day Shirt was released I was dreaming of making my husband a non conventional "Hawaiian" shirt and I was hunting for the perfect fabric. Eventually I found this amazing Vlisco Java wax print at Brave Fabrics and then the pattern came out and it was all just meant to be.

To read more about the fabric, click the image below to check out the Brave Fabrics blog post that Erin invited me to write, and then have a look at the other gorgeous fabrics she stocks. How loud could your next garment be in Vlisco wax print?!

Here I thought I would just make my usual notes about pattern adjustment so that I can keep my ledger in order.

As for his Atelier Brunette double gauze shirt I shortened the sleeves by cutting them at the lengthen/shorten line, then sewing a 1" deep double fold hem with total hem allowance of 1&1/2".

Of course I had a bit of fun pattern matching and had to get the ruler out to make sure that where my orange stripes crossed the front placket they would end up the same length as any other orange stripes elsewhere on the shirt!

Can you spot the chest pocket in that photo above? I thought not ;) I wondered if it might not be a bit invisible when worn too, so I actually unpicked a bit and slipped a ribbon tag under one edge then restitched it. But then I decided that was "too much" - like this shirt hadn't gone way over the top already, and took it out again.

The electric blue is ever so slightly teal and I knew a button match would require the expert assistance of Buttonmania, so I went down and blinded the poor things with my shirt. But of course the perfect button was found. It was surprisingly quite teal in colour and in the box didn't look like it would be the one to pick, but worked perfectly when placed on the shirt.

My aim had been a Hawaiian style shirt but just avoiding any obvious floral or islander style prints. To make it even more of a casual shirt I squared off the hem. Flipper thought the hem should be slightly shorter than the side height of his other All Day Shirt, so I cut straight across the front and back pattern pieces about 3/4" above the highest point of the original hem line. Then still finished it with a 3/4" hem.

At each side seam I left just over an inch of the side seam unstitched and created a small side vent. I didn't get close up photos but I'm sure you can imagine a narrow 1/2" hem on each side of the vent that is topstitched and then a bartack at the end of the side seam. It look great and allows that little bit of extra movement at the hip.

And then it got a little label (cool labels from Kylie and the Machine) and was wrapped up as part of his Christmas present.

The fabric is great and a delight to sew with. Imagine the weight of a traditional quilting cotton type fabric but with the fineness and weave of a Liberty lawn. It was like stitching crisp butter!

I have a feeling he'll be happy to receive more shirts like this one, so I still have my eye out for any dark, non floral, quirky prints that would make great party shirts., Then we'll just need to get invited to more parties!

Details:

Pattern: Liesl + Co All Day Shirt

Size: L

Modifications: Short sleeve and straight hem with side vents

Fabric: Vlisco Java wax print from Brave Fabrics

Notions: buttons, thread, interfacing and label - but no Swear Words, the pattern is too good for that!

I'll be back in a day or two with some Oliver + S sewing and then we can pick a winner of the Seashore Sundress giveaway...