my introduction

Welcome to this group! It seems you have a good background and the interest needed. Your plan to begin with curtains sounds great, then moving forward. I've made many shirts, not for dress, per se, but long sleeve Western, with a placket & cuffs. As you go along, just post questions here and there are many helpful folks around to offer advice to help you cross hurdles. If you have a website that you can post photos, please do so. Emily

and the companion video. Boy was I astounded!That book is brillian. Good to read even if one is currently making shirts. The thought of creating

I've made plenty of shirts but all of them before I bought David Coffin's book.

They aren't really all that difficult to stitch if one is accurate and takes care (and I found that doing woodworking making fine furniture improved my sewing skills - the sort of accuracy you need to make dovetails by hand that fit together without any gaps is similar to doing top quality sewing). The most important thing in any sort of sewing is probaly getting a good fit and that is probalby something that mnost of us find hardest to do I suspect.

PJs shouldn't be too hard as they have lots of ease - no-one likes to sleep in tight jimjams. When you do your shirt, do what is called a 'toile' first - make it our of calico (which I think is called muslin in the US). You do this to see what fitting problems there are in your pattern. If you have an old shirt which you like and think fits well, it may even be worth your time unpicking it to compare with your pattern to see if there are any differences that you may need to make to your pattern before you start.

Hi and welcome from the other side of the pond. Your comments raise an interesting point - the different approaches, attitudes to what some might consider 'complex' sewing. I tend to lurk for the most part, and I'm always ready to pick up odd hints ands tips that some of our accomplished sewists (Eurrgggh!) pass on.

My background was as an electrical engineer - power distribution. I actually took up dollmaking as a hobby three or four years ago, and that required the finished dolls be clothed! I try to dress my dolls in scaled-down 'proper' garments. You'd be surprised how difficult that can be when the young ladies will insist on posing with arms outstretched!

I read between the lines of what you say that you bring a disciplined mind to your sewing, conditioned by your experience as a woodworker. One of my little niggles is that very often pattern instructions seem to be written in some form of 'inverse square law short hand'[1] that, on the face of it, seems to make no sense at all, until you spend an essential few minutes thinking time working out the best sequence to put things together. To that end I'm sure you'll have few problems with making a dress shirt.

[1] Yes, I realise no such thing exists, but it somehow expresses most succinctly how incomprehensible, and consequently how 'difficult', some patterns can be. :-)

"FarmI" wrote a load of rubbish so is now correcting it:

> and the companion video. Boy was I astounded!>> That book is brillian. Good to read even if one is currently making > shirts. I meant to write that it's a brilliant book which is good to read even if one isn't currently making shirts

Actually, good patterns can be sewn from a combination of their notches and "first principles", with only a few basic things that have to be learned to do things that way. A cut-on shirt placket by industry methods and with the person sewing with no experience in that technique does tend to need a guide sheet if you've never met one before. But a shirt collar is a shirt collar is pretty much a shirt collar. A one or two piece sleeve placket can look daunting, but once you've done a few, they're no big deal.

Sometimes sewing can be a little like letting an electrical engineering student with no experience beyond the sophomore lab wire your house and then try to get it past the electrical inspector -- the wiring may be right in theory, but it wasn't done in a way that the code enforcement office recognizes.

When you're ready to try a shirt, I suggest Kwik Sew 2777 as a basic men's pattern. Knock off a couple of those in long or short sleeves to get the basic fitting issues and sewing issues figured out, and then you'll probably feel free to improvise. I'd also suggest trying to find a copy of Margaret Islander's "Shirts" video to watch how someone trained in ready to wear sewing does a shirt expeditiously. David's book is good, but there are easier ways to accomplish some of the things he makes into more heavy sailing than need be, imo.

Kay

Welcome aboard, Serge! I think it's wonderful that you've picked sewing out of all the hobbies you could choose. ;) But be forewarned!!!! It's addictive. ;) A lot of woodworking skills (and some tools!) will come in handy. Measure twice, cut once....we have that rule too. ;) And I hope you saved a good hammer. When you go to hem your jeans, you might want to whack the flat felled seam with the hammer before you stitch. Will make things much easier. (no, I'm really not kidding. That's exactly what I use on jean hems for myself and my clients too.)

The Shirtmaking book is good. But it is a little complicated like Kay said. If you have questions about anything in there, ask away. I have that book, and LOTS of other folks on the list do too. We can help you figure out anything that doesn't make sense to you first time through.

I think it's marvelous that you are just jumping right in. Don't be at all shy about asking questions. We are always happy to help around here. ;)

Sharon

and the companion video. Boy was I astounded! The thought of creating> a bespoke garment for myself was exciting! And the timing is perfect:> I need a new outside interest, and since I sold my workshop when I> sold my house, this was the perfect hobby to do in a small apartment!> Have any of you ever made a dress-shirt? Used this book/video?> > In any event, after watching the video, I have no doubt that I will> need a good deal of practice to sharpen my sewing skills before I move> to a dress-shirt. Being realistic, I just bought the fabric and lining> for a pair of tab-top curtains, found the instructions in a Singer> "how-to" Curtains book, and hope to start them over the Thanksgiving> weekend. After that, I'll try a simple garment from a pattern, such as > pajamas.>

What a sensible person you are! The BEST thing you can do now is just sew! Just keep sewing seams of all different kinds! Honing the basic skills is very important and also a lot of fun!

Well, thank you - and everyone else - for the warm welcome!I like making things, and this sounds like fun!

Shhhhh... I already discovered the $2.95 "Jean-a-Ma-Jig" and used it to hem my jeans. But thanks for the hammer advice!

Yes, it was a bit daunting at first, but I've watched the video two times now, and it's starting to fall into place. I just ordered the two feet he suggested: the flat-felling foot and the round hem foot. I suspect I'll need a lot of practice, and as someone else said, from curtains to pajamas to a basic shirt. I think it will be a fun journey!

Thanks, and thanks to everyone else who posted!

Well, I don't mind the complexity, after all, I am a lawyer (LOL!!!)

On the other hand, i would like to see how one would do RTW; is there a web-site for her video?

I'll get that pattern when I'm ready; I bought their 2388 for the PJs, and liked the straightforward approach. Thanks!

Hi Serge, welcome to alt.sewing. You'll find wonderful support and information here, so when you run into difficulties (and you will), just let us know.

Beverly

Philadelphia lawyer? (g,d,r -- my SIL is a lawyer, too)

which is: or rent at ask your library to get it for you.>

The original patternmaker and founder of KwikSew was trained as a ready-to- wear patternmaker, and RTW patternmakers tend to have much higher standards than many of the big home sewing patternmaking companies. But things are improving. And men's patterns are thin on the ground, alas.

May I make three suggestions for any shirt-type pattern?

1) Cut a copy of the collar stand on folded paper, so you've got a whole pattern rather than just a halvsie. Ditto for the collar. Then use your whole patterns to cut your collar and stand. More accurate. 2) Small seam allowances are much more precisely sewn than the standard 5/8" home sewing allowances. If you pick up a pattern with 5/8" seam allowances all around, trim down the seam allowance on the neck edge, the collar stand and the side of the collar that joins the collar stand to 3/8". Trim the seam allowance down to 1/4" on the outside edges of the collar. Saves you a ton of time, makes pattern layout a bit easier, and makes the sewing so much easier. 3) Use good interfacing. David Coffin tends to recommend another piece of the same fabric, which works, but requires you to really iron the shirt before wear, and quite possibly starch it.

I prefer a good fusible, of which there is a great dearth in fabric stores. The one I use is #7927, which behaves perfectly for me:

I have also heard good thingsabout Pam Erny's interfacing #2, but haven't tried it myself: is a custom shirtmaker, and you might want to poke around on her blog for ideas: 's been awhile since I've looked at the Islander shirts video -- if shedemonstrates only the separate front placket, drop me a note -- I havedrafting instructions for the standard RTW cut-on placket that goes togethervery quickly, easily and professionally. I'd be glad to share. Kay kay@ ferndotcom

Thanks for the welcome; I can't imagine sewing somthing that small!