Embellishing Pinto the Picnic Shirt

I've blogged about Pinto the Picnic shirt several times, and I wanted to share a parting tale. 
Or is that tail?
Nothing makes an essential summer shirt sing like the perfect embellishment!

I found these little rabbits in my button inventory. I think I might have purchased them at Button Button in Vancouver Canada.
Did you enjoy that sewist-in-vancouver podcast two summers back? If you missed it or want to listen again Vancouver B.C. Podcast including trip to marvelous fabric store and Button Button http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/11/ench-by-sew-026-embellishment-via.html

Summer Essentials: Pinto the Picnic Shirt Terminado! (M6076)Sleeveless Princess-Seamed Shirt

Nothing like the neighborhood Fourth of July to inspire me to finish sewing Pinto the Picnic shirt. (I've blogged about my work fitting M6076 - both for Pinto and Western Winds numerous times  ) Pinto is such a cool, comfortable - not to mention cute (!) summer essential. I'm  looking forward to wearing her when I bike to summer chorus and also when buddy Marilyn and I next meet for a cup of tea. I know I'll also reach for her just any old time I reach into the armoire, looking for something to pickup my spirits. I sure hope to create a few more of these sleeveless wonders before fall.

Summer Essentials: Cropped Pants

Are these Summer Essentials Exciting Sewing? 

No!

Practical though. I've worn out a number of pairs of these full-legged, elastic waist, cropped pants over the last ten years or so. This version is in light-weight denim. They work great with my princess-seamed Western Winds shirt. I'm at work on Pinto, another version of this shirt, and hope to make a few more of these sleeveless, princess-seamed shirts this summer. These pants, as well as the basic denim shorts I made last summer, will see a lot of summer wardrobe wear.

M2791 is out of print But there are many used versions available when you search the web

Ench By Sew-44-Part 2: Embellished and Printed Fabric, Reflections on an Exhibit at the Met in NYC

The Third Knot”. Interlaced Roundel with Eight Wreaths and a Scalloped Shield in its Center  - After Leonardo - Before 1521

Click on this link in iTunes  to download the 44'rd episode of the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast,  recorded in June
of 2016. Or listen directly on the web by clicking on this link.

This month's show is, PART 2 of Embellished and Printed, Reflections from a Historical Exhibit from an Historical Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City - Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

In this Show

*Primeros Pensamientos/First Reflections – Chatting about my sewing and a little more

My Kensington Gardens Shirt - Terminado!/Finished! http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2016/06/kensington-gardens-shirt.html
*D’accurdo, tambien/OK also 
       And a little more /y un poco más
At work on Pinto another summer shirt http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2016/06/fitting-pinto-m6076sleeveless-princess.html

*Entonces/Then Back to the exhibit at the Metropoliton Museum of Art in NYC -  Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

Web Resources 

I mentioned the Tanna Lawn fabric for my cur.rent sewing project, that I purchased a few years back from Liberty of London. In this podcast "Laurel Loves London" I talked about a trip to Liberty

http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/06/ench-by-sew-009-laurel-loves-london.html

One of the items in the exhibit we visit in this cast comes from the Victoria and Albert in London (V&A). Below is a link to a walk I shared with you around the fashion gallery at the V&A.

http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/07/ench-by-sew-010-v-fashion-gallery-tour.html

-Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns

and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

http://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2015/fashion-and-virtue

- “The Third Knot”. Interlaced Roundel with Eight Wreaths and a Scalloped Shield in its Center

Artist:

Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471–1528 Nuremberg)

Artist:

After Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, Vinci 1452–1519 Amboise) (or workshop)

Date:

1521 before

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/388791

- Link to the 10th century block printed lions - that I think would make a great quilt block - Spoonflower would be my ticket! http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448647

Ancient Egypt print block

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448512

Many wonderful links turn up when I searched on 'printed textiles' at the Met

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=www.metmuseum.org+printed+textiles&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

"Nineteenth-Century European Textile Production

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/txtn/hd_txtn.htm

Fitting Pinto: (M6076)Sleeveless Princess-Seamed Shirt - Perfect for Summer Temperatures

The word "pinto" in Spanish does indeed refer to a specific kind of bean
It also means "spotted" or "speckled" !

Last fall I first fitted a sleeveless version of M6076. I called my first version of this shirt Western Winds. I've been reaching for my Western Winds shirt repeatedly in these warmer days. It's on the wash line every time I hang up clothes. To prevent fading I machine wash my own-sewn garments but I hang them to dry on plastic hangers on our clothes line . There is really no more time involved, as the hangers can go straight into the closet once dry.

There is no sleeveless version in the pattern, so I worked out where I wanted the armscye to be cut. A french curve ruler really helps with that. I did create a muslin for that original version.

I'm finding that, despite marking up my first-version master pattern tracing and markup of the master pattern, as well as that muslin, I'm still needing to do a lot of basting on Pinto, both with a basting stitch and safety pins. I'm hoping the altered cutting and stitching lines I just made to the last version of the pattern will help me make the next version of this shirt more quickly! I marked all alteration cut and stitch lines in a specific marker color and dated them too. One thing I've learned about altering patterns is to do that. I've also learned that different fabric, in a fitted garment, need slight differences in the amount of seam allowance.

My side and shoulder seams are still basted. Next step is to sew over them with a regular stitch length.

As you can see I also haven't yet added the facing or collar. To make sure the various seams in this fitted shirt hung right I safety pin basted the two front pieces up the center front line for the time being. I can still pull the shirt over my head for fitting.

~ ~ ~

Completed Western Winds - Last Version of this shirt http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/10/western-winds-terminadofinished.html

Kensington Gardens Shirt - Terminado!/Finished!

Hey look what I finally finished!
Love wearing it too. Great over jeans and fitted trousers.I have not completed a lot of sewing recently, but I have been making a concerted effort to get more sewing time in.  Because I just missed time at the machine, as well as finishing and enjoying new garments. 

I call it my Kensington Gardens Shirt in honor of that wonderful park in London, where you find the Peter Pan statue. The contrast fabric is William Morris Strawberry Thief. The green material is also Liberty of London, but I don’t know what design it is, or if it’s one of the old classics like the Strawberry Thief.

I had this shirt cut out probably two years ago  - from my No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency pattern (much altered B5526). After cutting it out, I tucked it away and more or less forgot about it.  

A few months back, I dug it out because - hey I can't let Liberty of London fabric go to waste! I have been sewing it off and on for something like two or three months. Just tiny snips of time. Finally I pushed myself to put in blocks of time, and finally it is done. Hooray!

This project has really reminded me you have to have confidence about resolving sewing challenges - I had more than one.

I had an awful lot of problems with things like laying the button holes out iregulalrly (yup I measured - but then I did something funny....) - so I added more buttons in between, sewed the right strip on top of the left, and now all the buttons are decorative. I pull it over my head to put it on, and that works just fine. 

I really disliked this shirt for a while. I altered a lot of aspects of the pattern style, and it was cut too big and loose for the floaty fabric-  but now I like it a lot. Isn't that always amazing when a project goes from potential wadder to wardrobe enhancer? I just have to be careful not to wear it over full pants because of the loose cut. 

Part of my other challenges were... the Liberty of London Tanna Lawn material is very fluid so I added quilt batting to the collar (used the collar band only) and the part down along the front facing because even with interfacing it was limp. Then I did some very simple machine straight stitch quilting. 

At one point I considered taking some waist tucks, which looked like they'd work out as well - like I did on the purple check Kaufaman gingham plus Liberty of London Mauverina print contrasts using this same shirt pattern about 2.5 years ago.  But I started to get used to the looseness, and am now happy with it. Can always take those tucks down the road if I change my mind.

Oh - I also changed the cuffs from the original under elbow cuff with placket , to a simple band of the Strawberry Thief that I sewed in print side upside down, then seamed along either (pressed) edge, then ran wide elastic in and turned up. After that I simply sewed the rest of the underarm seam. (I have a feeling I did something more permanent to make that cuff stay in place.....) I always push my shirt sleeves up, so 3/4 sleeves are better for me. And these cuffs hit me just right, a touch below the elbow, or I can push the elastic up just above the elbow,  if I'm in the mood.

Collar and front band are stabilized with both quilt batting and fusible interfacing
How about that pin?
Who knows how long that's been floating around in my costume jewelry collection.
It really helps make the shirt.

Garment Quilting - Inner/Under Layers - Kensington Gardens Shirt - Technicos

Last time I posted about how I worked on the quilting for my Kensington Gardens shirt - using both hand basting and machine sewing.

I chose to quilt for structuring/embellishing the front of this shirt because of the very fluid nature of the Liberty of London Tanna Lawn fabric.

For structuring beneath the quilting I first fused a light weight interfacing onto the inner side of the interfacing - that's the purple/blue/green Strawberry thief print.

I then added a light weight fusible batting on the main body of the fabric - the green and cream floral print.

I use a half width of packaged seam binding tape to give a neat finish to my interior edges. I'll do the same thing with the hem. Usually one package - with the full length sliced down the middle - is enough for the entire interior. It goes all the way around the front facing, collar facing and all along the hem. The bias nature of the tape works well around curves. When I get to a point, I can fold a point, and because I've sliced the tape in half, there's not to much fabric. I get a pretty crisp hem that way.