ain't no hat for that

I have recently become aware that blue is my Dad’s favorite hue, and so for his birthday, I attempted a linen Guayabera that compliments his (*not* blue, *not* pictured) eyes.

Thaaaaaat's right, my model was willing to pose only with a stealthy straw hat shield. At least I didn't slap a horrific visage on him like last time. Here endeth the Live Human Model shots for this post. Sorry, but Big Daddy is a child of the sixties, and not so into putting his good looks on the internet. Bright side: for once, you get actual detail shots of actual sewing!

This loose woven linen was unearthed on Mood Fabric’s lower floor, a level that I must admit, I don’t frequent! Jerseys & Shirtings live there. I banned myself from Jerseys vis-a-vis MSN, and banned men from asking me for shirts vis-a-vis my sanity. But this past 4th of July weekend, everyone was gearing up for the holiday and it was a party atmosphere in Mood. I visited every floor, and found a small pile of linen bolts languishing by the Liberty prints (I also don't understand Liberty, guys, I just don't get it!). I snatched several linens up immediately, although I thought the loose weave and solid color of my Dad’s bolt might give me brain pain. But with proper handling the yardage was a pleasure to work with, even without a technicolor print to keep my attention.

Though I did go technicolor on the under collar and inner yoke, teehee and traalaaa! The bits and pieces of my birthday-come-anniversary dress made my eyes happy. Here it is flipped inside out. I did NOT try and turn that button loop, nosiree bob, not on this loss weave, that's a topstitched bias strip. 

Colette’s Negroni is like, the only man's shirt pattern I make. Mayhaps I could mix that up a bit. I’ve previously modified it into a Hawaiian shirt, and now into a Guayabera. The mods included boxing out the side seams & adding little 3 inch vents (to accommodate the hem). I chose coconut buttons for a summery feel, and added an extra to the inside of the turned-under-and topstitched side seams.

There are several seam finishes going on, depending on what the seam needed to do. I serged the sleeve seams for fear of fraying (and fear of my life during serging) but turning & stitching was best. Here, on the facing, I turned under 1/2 inch and topstitched along the raw edge with a zig zag, so that it would lay flat under the shirt.

My newest needle obsession: the wing needle. SO MUCH FUN. Three rows of machine hemstitching (courtesy of my new purple lover) in rayon 40w with a wing needle down either side of the shirt gave it a Guayabera(ish) feel. I was going to get way more fancy with that stitching, but decided to keep it simple once I realized the shirt might…never…get…worn…

Let me explain. Whilst pondering how many pockets to add, Ruggy had a feel of the fabric. Um, oona…he began, with great hesitation, knowing he was poking a violent beast with a dull stick, after all, I was sewing MENSWEAR…this seems a little heavy for a summer linen shirt.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I bellowed, IT’S LINEN AND LINEN BREATHES. SILENCE CITIZEN.

Yeah, it’s a little heavy. Adding two breast pockets meant adding two more layers of this awesome, but heavy, stuff, right across the chest. And as you can see above, there's already two fairly wide layers right down the front. No bueno. (Hey man, at least I’m picking a more manly shade of fabric. You should see the stuff I try to put Ruggy in.) Pockets abandoned, I decided to call it a Fall/Winter Dress Guayabera, and presented Big Daddy with his prize– along with the promise of another summer shirt before he even opened this one. But he put it on immediately and called it good!

(He’s still getting a lighterweight shirt, because I don’t trust him.)

NOR SHOULD HE TRUST ME! Whoops, sneak attack back view! Look, he should know better than to turn his back on me when I’ve got a camera in my hands! Don’t worry, Dad, the internet still doesn’t know who you are. Your secret agent persona is safe.

(I am going to get in so much trouble for that last shot.)

this guayabera, and my impending punishment, was made possible by my monthly fabric "allowance' as part of the mood sewing network.

man shirts for everyone!

Last night I enjoyed one of the best birthday dinners in recent memory, surrounded by three of my very favorite people, and everyone at the table was wearing something I made. That means two of those garments were MAN SHIRTS. 

I KNOW!!! 

I have no evidence of this, because not a single one of us brought any kind of device to dinner. WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW WE LIKES IT. During the meal, mommaballoona mentioned a few cool spots they saw on the drive, that might be good for blog photos...  there's a green wall that says "Love" on it! Yes indeedy there is! Good eye, psychic mommaballoona! Big Daddy has a part in this story too, and you can read about it over at Makery, where I'm playing in Portia's series The Refashioners (there's also a metric ton of prizes to win ifffn you want to get in on the refashioning craze yourself).

I've been everywhere but here this birthday week, partying with #sewphotohop and The Sewing Party, but I would really like to say thank you for all of the birthday wishes, right here on the blog, where I've met so many friends. Sewists are the sweetest. Have a great weekend, see you here next week with some dresses!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG DADDY!!!

for your late evening enjoyment... ruggy's opening night cocktail:

1 oz gin

1 oz carpano antica vermouth

stir over ice

add a lemon peel, twisted over glass.

drink repeatedly.

palm trees and warm sand (and even a muppet)

What is UP y'all. I've been silently stalking you like mad, commenting in my head on rehearsal breaks and such. Oh, the dialogues we've had! The witty repartee! What, you don't remember? Are my powers of telepathy waning? Must work on that.

I've also been stalking peeps who've made up Colette's Negroni. Big Daddy needed a grillin' shirt for father's day!

Yes, you're right, I've made one of these before, for ruggy. But his UNDYING FIT PICKINESS made for a less than stellar outcome. (I love you ruggy.) And, according to the fitmaster, I needed to go with a larger size if this was intended for backyard barbecuin'. Mommaballoona stealthily measured a favorite shirt flat for me, and I cut with held breath and crossed fingers.

And also some cursing. This fabric hails from Dallas' garment district, Golden D'or, to be exact, which I raced away to on an unexpected half day off. Y'all, they are not lying. Everything IS bigger in Texas. The district is comprised of warehouses full of yardage, rugs, jewelry, shoes...it's pretty insane. Now, bigger is not always better...these warehouses hold mostly closeout yardage. There are treasures to be had, and this cotton/linen blend is very nearly one of them, but when I went to iron after prewashing, I realized the palm trees ran horizontal to the selvedge. In other words, that split back yoke you see up yonder is the only pattern piece placed properly. Had to go cross grain everywhere else.

Oh, the cursing.

I went so match crazy on the pocket, I decided to change up the flap so you could actually SEE the damn thing. And HELLZ YEAH THOSE ARE REAL LIVE BUTTONHOLES. Have you seen my late night buttonhole instagrammification? It's a whole new world, yo.

The peeps at pattern review had the usual stellar info on process, which I devoured in short 2am bursts. One of the whopping 23 reviews made an interesting point: going bigger than a size L could send you into grading issues. Since this was arriving via USPS, I stuck with large, but redrew the side seam from underarm to hem (after raising the waist 1 1/2 inches. We kalkatroonaans are a petite people.) I was pretty sure this would throw the grain off, but went for it anyway.

Did it work, you ask?

I screamed when i saw this shot!!! Wait, why are you screaming too? No, no, don't run away, Big Daddy is not a masked serial killer. He's just a wee bit internet wary, and asked if I would paste this Jerry Rubin ventriloquist puppet head on his face instead.  

(Oh yeah, I played Jerry Rubin via a ventriloquist dummy in a musical about John Lennon. As you do.)

Hope every dad had a wonderful father's day!

happy birthday to a most curious man

around this hour, in his part of the globe, i imagine my father is sipping high west double rye, neat, and furthering one of his many talents (he is already accomplished in the drink, i'm talking practicing scales and building computers).  i would say my father knows something about everything there is in the world.  and i would not be lying.  some things a pinch, some things a metric ton, but some thing about every thing.  so, to a very curious and learned man, i offer up the magical maps of eric fisher via his flickr photostream... he's cataloged the differences between cities round the world, including new york and los angeles.

a map of locals and tourists: new york vs la

red dots = pictures taken by tourists

blue dots = pictures taken by locals

yellow dots = pictures taken by others

a map of race and ethnicity: new york vs la

red dots = white peeps

blue dots = black peeps

green = asian peeps 

orange = hispanic peeps

yellow = other peeps (possibly kalkatroonaans)

all photos by eric fisher, who has many more locales from around this big beautiful globe in his flickr sets, where you can scroll over the images and find landmarks.  race and ethnicity here, locals and tourists here.  go find your hometown!  and happy birthday big daddy... can't wait to be a yellow dot with a blue camera in new york with you!