Shirt project

I'm currently working on a shirt for my other half, it's the first time I've attempted a man's shirt although making my shirt dress (see below) definitely helped. However for this project I particularly wanted to do a Western style shirt, you know, the classic cowboy-style like these Levi shirts:

I was *really* disappointed with the range of patterns available for men's shirts, I didn't feel I had much choice at all. There was just one pattern that had that western-style look, Simplicity 4760 - it's the short sleeved pattern B that I was interested in:

Having bought this pattern, the only appropriate one I could find, I didn't really think about it or look too closely at it until I started putting all the pattern pieces together. Now that I'm more than half way through making the shirt, I realise that this shirt pattern has a plain front, i.e. doesn't include a placket for the front of the shirt (you know, the extra bit of fabric that forms a line down the front edge, where the buttonholes go), which really would have given this shirt a smarter, more finished feel. Quite disappointed by that.

On top of that, I realised that the shirt collar is flat, it doesn't have a base/stand for the main part of the collar to attach to, it just joins right at the neck. Here are a couple of photos from Made To Measure, 'Anatomy of a Shirt by Alexander West', to help you see what I'm on about:


Overall it turns out this pattern is really more like a bowling shirt than a 'proper' western shirt and I'm really disappointed. As a project it's come together fairly well, although the sleeves took me quite a while to attach, and there was a small amount of puckering that I haven't yet figured out how to eliminate. Still it's all good practise.

What I'm really excited about though, is the final touch - I'll be using pearl snaps, and I've never used snaps before so I'll need to do my research and hopefully will be posting a tutorial here some time in the next week or so!

I actually had an *incredibly* hard time tracking down authentic western-style pearl snaps to use, I had to import them from America can you believe! Found an excellent seller on Etsy though, Cowgirl Snaps - 24 colours available, really great seller. You should check her out, they really make all the difference if you're looking for an authentic western-style shirt, it's all about the attention to detail. Can't wait to use the left over snaps on a fitted girl shirt for myself!

Photos of this project to follow very soon...