Archer #4! And this one has the most modifications yet. I started out with the pattern I made for my last sleeveless Archer (made using this tutorial from Jen at Grainline Studio) and then did the v-neck alteration Andrea detailed on her blog. The tutorial worked like a charm, and I love this neckline!
Now let's talk about fabric. I have two words for you: seersucker and elephants. How could I resist?! I found this fabric at MissMatatabi (an Etsy store with an amazing selection of Japanese fabric) and I knew it had to be mine. I've been wanting a seersucker shirt to help deal with the long, hot summer for ages, but it's so hard to find seersucker fabrics that don't consist of pastel-y stripes and a "yachting at Cape Cod" vibe. I don't normally go for novelty prints, but I love that this one is so small scale that you don't really see the elephants from far away. I think that and the colors keep it from being too childish.
When I was almost done with this shirt I tried it on and realized the armholes gaped a lot. And the silhouette was really boxy. I didn't have this problem with my last Archer made using the same pattern, so I guess it was due to the fact that this fabric was stiffer than the shirting I used last time. I'd just finished bias binding the armholes and there was no way I was going to rip that out, so I pinched out the excess fabric from the armhole to the waistline, and just sewed new side seams. This actually worked pretty well! I also raised the hem a few inches.
The shorts I'm wearing came from an old pair of Lucky
jeans that I bought on sale 7 years ago when I was in high school. I
wore them out until they got super faded and a big hole on one knee, and
they've been stowed away for years. Now they're a relic of the boot-cut
and low-waist heydays, but I pulled them out yesterday and they still fit
really well... So less than a minute and two swipes of the rotary cutter
later I had a new pair of shorts!
Lucky jeans must be made well
because all of the seams and the upper area still look great. No
holes in unsightly places! And I'm pretty sure I wore these jeans
literally hundreds of times. Sometimes it really is worth paying a little more for
high quality, "made in the USA" products.
This fabric was the prize piece in my (admittedly small) stash, so I'm glad this shirt turned out as well as it did! The v-neck/collar stand neckline is one I'm definitely going to replicate in the future.
How's your summer sewing going? And do you know of anywhere else that sells unique seersucker fabric? I might be hooked...
<3 Lindsay
Labels: archer, buttondown shirt, finished project, grainline studio, seersucker, summer
