Floral Blaire Shirt, Guest Post from Linda

Guest post from Linda, Courtney's mother and fellow vintage sewing machine enthusiast.

We've had some uncomfortably hot and humid weather here in Illinois lately, the kind of mugginess that makes the thought of a clingy cotton or cotton/lycra knit shirt sound like something to be avoided. There were no floaty, cool cotton woven shirts hanging in my closet, but I remembered some fabric that had fun possibilities. Simple pattern, should only take a few hours...

Blaire shirt patterns

The StyleArc pattern line is terrific in that you get so many sizes in one envelope. The drawback is tracing the size you want onto patternmaking paper and cutting it out before getting to start with the lovely shirt fabric. No matter, has to be done.
I don't have the collection of sewing machines that Courtney does, but once one does come through the front door, I'm reluctant to turn it loose. So although I could have done the whole shirt on my Bernina 1130, it seemed a lovely idea to see what a few other machines could do. 

Bernina 1130

The shirt construction went along smoothly. The fabric was so light I chose French seams because they'd be sturdy and add no bulk. The shoulder seams and front plackets were serged, reminding me how lovely my Babylock Imagine handles that sort of finishing work.  

Finished seams

Buttons and buttonholes were promising to be the interesting part. Plan A--buttonholes using the Singer 401A and the "Professional Buttonholer Attachment?" Sounded good, and after an hour of figuring out the attachment, the sample looked good. Oops, there was no template in the box that was small enough for the little shirt buttons.  

Singer 401A

Plan B--the Necchi BU. I love this machine. It's so powerful yet purrs softly while sewing. The buttonholer that fits this machine has a small template. I put away the 401 and set up the Necchi. Lovely. Unfortunately it cannot drop its feed dogs, and the screw for the coverplate didn't fit. Drat.    

Necchi BU

Plan C--the Singer Featherweight. I have a Singer buttonhole attachment that fits. To my credit, it was immediately apparent that since the Featherweight cannot do its own zigzag stitch, it would need a highly specialized buttonholer that I do not have.

Featherweight

Last job is sewing on the buttons. I knew that the job could be reliably done by machine, but hadn't tried that in several years. A button foot that is slightly sticky is helpful to keep the button from sliding around, and I have a brand new one for my Necchi BU. But it can't work without the aforementioned coverplate. Sigh.
Rather than going directly to my thimble and handsewing these little buttons on, I returned to the Bernina. Regular zigzag foot, ten minutes, and the buttons were on.

Bernina did a professional job

Finished shirt, worth the entire learning experience. I'd forgotten how comfortable a floaty cotton can be! Plus, I got to play with all my machines, a good thing in my book.    

Perfect shirt for the garden

It fits beautifully