So!  I decided to make myself a new shirt.  My new, baby grandson was one week old.  I didn’t know that ‘baby brain’ happened to Grandma’s.

I had some 1” squared gingham, I matched all the rows up and was quite chuffed with myself for remembering to do that.  I wish I had remembered to put the back piece on the fold which is where it was supposed to be.  I managed to lay the shirt front piece on the fabric very economically.  It was when I was cutting it out that I realised it was totally off the vertical, by about 30 degrees!  So I needed to cut out 2more fronts.  This was when I realised I hadn’t put the back on the fold and now couldn’t.  So I added seam allowances and cut it out.  By now, I didn’t have enough fabric left for the sleeves, so I made facings for the armholes and went sleeveless.

I decided to make ties for the back so that it had an open back seam and would be nice and airy.  Shame I didn’t get them on evenly.  Cue, the unpicker.  I made the facings and went to attach them.  One went on wonderfully, the other one seemed to be inside out, like I’d made 2 left facings.  I hadn’t, what I had done was sew one side seam right sides together, and the other side was wrong sides together.  More unpicking.  Odd how that facing now went on beautifully.

Today, I have hemmed it and now it just needs buttonholes and buttons.  It has also had the mother of all haircuts because of all the loose threads from all the unpicking.

Oddly, it looks ok.  I just don’t love it.  Maybe when I recover from it’s traumatic birth, I’ll feel happier about it.  I’ll give it a stroke, and another look in a few days when I’ve bought some nice buttons.

The jacket isn’t made yet, just the dress.

I’ve drafted a lining piece with a pleat, but didn’t know if I was just being a bit OTT.  Thanks

I forgot to click ‘use’…..

That is going to be spectacular.  I’m currently making my Mother of the Groom dress.

I use scissors because I struggle to use a rotary cutter.  I can’t keep it against the ruler and it wanders off the straight and narrow.  I do use it to cut bias bindings but frequently switch back to my big Fiskars, especially if the rotary develops a notch in the blade and misses bits.

Can anybody explain what a Teflon shoe does for the pressing of clothes?  Does it mean you don’t need a pressing cloth?  Do I need one?

Also, can anybody recommend a sleeve ironing board that feels solid, and not as if it is going to collapse in use?

Depending on the amount surely that could affect the way the sleeve hangs.

That’s what I wondered