Men's Shirt Pattern Showdown: Fairfield Button-Up vs. All-Day Shirt

Let me begin with a disclaimer: I am not a menswear sewing expert. But I have tried to branch out from pajama pants and t-shirts when sewing for my husband. I've sewn eight men's shirts in the last two years, using three patterns - the Colette Negroni, the Thread Theory Fairfield Button-Up Shirt (affiliate link), and most recently, the Liesl & Co. All-Day Shirt.  While sewing the All-Day Shirt, I was comparing it to the Fairfield every step of the way. I thought others might be interested in the comparison of the Fairfield Button-Up and the Liesl & Co. All-Day Shirt too, so I wrote them up. I'm comparing the two patterns on the parameters of fit; pattern format and instructions; pattern options; and finally construction and finishes.  I hope someone out there will find this useful!

Another birthday Fairfield

I made my husband another Fairfield Button-Up Shirt (affiliate link) for his birthday.  The last one I made him was for his last birthday, and he still wears it all the time.  Like the last time, I made him up a medium, graded to a large in the chest and waist.  I sewed the sleeves at the prescribed length (last time I messed around bit with the length).

April 2019 and my Me-Made May Pledge

I don't have a focused Me-Made May Pledge this year.  I've gone from nearly everything in my closet being made by me, to not having much that fits, and even less that is me-made. I'm hoping to continue losing weight, so trying to sew a new wardrobe quickly doesn't make too much sense either.  So I will document my outfits on the days that I wear me-made, try to repeat outfits as rarely as possible, see if I can alter anything else to fit, and sew a few new things that I really need - like a pair of jeans and long-sleeved tops.

Pink and Flowery All-Day Shirt

For J's birthday this year, I did some secret sewing and made him two new shirts.  This one was made from the Liesl & Co. All-Day Shirt pattern.

March 2019

I made some good progress on my Make Nine goals this month.  I don't know that I'll make it all the way through my Make Nine, as my priorities are already starting to shift, but I'm happy with the things I've made so far.

I'm not sure I will get to that Yuzu Coat after all, and I'm less interested in the Cynthia Rowley dress than I was when I made this list.  I do still definitely want to make the Extra-Sharp Pencil Skirt and the Classic Shirt, as well as a new Traveler shirt dress.

A birthday shirt for J

When my husband and I visited Mood Fabrics during our 10th anniversary trip to New York City last fall, I encouraged him to pick out some shirting so that I could make him another Fairfield Button-Up Shirt (affiliate link).  He chose two cuts.  I put them in my stash closet and promptly began procrastinating actually making the shirts.

Finally, just before his birthday, I forced myself to pull this one out and revisit the Fairfield pattern.

Having sewn this shirt a few times before, I knew that it runs small.  My husband is 6'1" and a solid M according to the size chart, but based on previous experience, I cut an M shoulder and then graded to an L at the bottom of the armscye.  As you can see, he definitely needed the L width all the way down.  I also cut the L length.  Because I wanted to keep the sleeve cap height at the medium size, I cut the entire yoke in size medium.  This meant that I needed to lengthen the back shirt about 3/8" to compensate for the loss of length in the yoke.  I mention this because I nearly forgot to do it and that would have been super-annoying.

April 2018 and my MMM pledge

Are you participating in Me-Made May?  This will be my third year, and I've been looking forward to it for months.  I feel very prepared for it this year.  Like last year, I'm pledging to wear at least one me-made item every day.  Additionally, I am going to try not to repeat any outfits during the month (repeating garments is ok, and necessary).  I'm looking forward to the challenge, and am planning to post on IG, but probably not every day.  I will post a few round-ups here.  As for sewing, I'm currently redrafting my Ginger Jeans pattern to address my back leg wrinkles, and am hoping to sew up a pair or two during May.

But enough about May (at least, until tomorrow).  This post is about April.  It was a busy month with Easter, two weekend trips and my older daughter's spring ballet show, but I still managed to knock out a few things, including a shirt for my husband, which has been on my sewing list since we bought the fabric for it in October.

PROJECTS COMPLETED

1) Art Museum Trousers for G to replace a pair he had recently outgrown.  I sewed a size 4 lengthened by 1" with enclosed welt pockets and no belt loops.  I used 33" of pinstriped denim plus scraps of airplane quilting cotton. Sewed everything in 3 hours, including time to interface my welt pieces. Ended up using a hem allowance of 3/4", so I should have lengthened by 1.75" instead of 1".  Width is perfect.  Completed 4/4

2) Bow tie for G using this tutorial and scraps. Completed 4/4.

3) Another OOP Lisette Portfolio/Simplicity 2245 for me, using 1.89 yards of 50" wide fabric bought last July.  This dress is evidence that sometimes it's good to stash fabric without a purpose. I had actually envisioned this dress in a vivid emerald green linen and kept putting it in my cart, when I remembered this cut of designer fabric that I had bought without purpose.  The linen/viscose blend fabric is cool and breezy with a gorgeous drape that was better for this dress than the linen I had originally chosen. Stash win! Completed 4/10.  Blog post coming soon.

4) Fairfield Button-Up as a birthday gift for J. I used 2.5 yards cotton shirting purchased in October to make this shirt. Completed 4/22. Will be blogged soon.

5) Four bodice muslins for a pattern test I'm doing.  88" used of an old sheet.  Completed 4/23.

I also took in the waist and hips of my houndstooth Alberta Street skirt, which has been bothering me all year because it was just too big in those areas.  It took me less than an hour and I feel like I have a whole new item of clothing in my closet.

FABRIC PURCHASES

4/21: I bought 5.33 yards of fabric to make elf costumes for my girls and my niece.  I'm not sure whether they will be helping me with the sewing or not.  All of it was bought at Joann's - one cut of sale yardage, and the rest from the remnant bin.

FABRIC IN/OUT

Fabric in: 5.33 yards
Fabric out: 7.75 yards

Fabric in YTD: 60.58 yards
Fabric out YTD: 48.23 yards

Four Fairfields on vacation

I was very busy the first two weeks in August, sewing up vacation button-downs for my brother, my father and my husband.  After my brother saw the bula shirt I sewed for J in June, he requested one.  His birthday was coming up, so we picked out two cuts of rayon fabric from Hawaii Fabric Mart. I did not want to make the Negroni pattern again because of the front facings, and I suspected that my brother would not be inclined to iron (spoiler alert, I have already been proven right).  I decided to try the Fairfield Button-Up (affiliate link) from Thread Theory.

Now here is where I mention that I could have saved myself a lot of annoyance if I had a) muslined and b) taken the time to really work out where the pattern was going wrong, fit-wise, before sewing three more of the shirts.  Because, although I like the pattern, and although I will definitely sew it again, I have come to the conclusion that this pattern is not just "slim-fit," but actually runs small.  Obviously a Hawaiian-type shirt calls for a more relaxed fit than a dressier shirt, but I think the sizing of the Fairfield is too tight even for a modern-cut dressy shirt.

I cut a size L for my brother's first shirt.  The size chart says an L fits a 42 1/8" chest, 37.75" waist, 45" hip.  My brother has a 42" chest and a 37" waist.  It should have fit well, but I had to forego flat-felled seams and sew the side seams - all the way up through the sleeve - with a 1/4" seam allowance to avoid it being super-tight.  I admittedly forgot to measure my brother's hip, but I had planned to do a split hem anyway, and his hips are not disproportionate to his chest and waist.  And as it turned out, the side slits were not optional, due to tightness.

We didn't try to button the shirt up all the way (in fact, I didn't even put a button at the top because I knew it would always be worn open), but you can see in the above photo from the way the fabric is pulling at the top button, that the shirt is too small across the upper chest despite the fact that my brother fits into the size range exactly.  That shoulder fit, though, is spot-on.  And he loves the shirt, and received several compliments on it from waitstaff at restaurants while on vacation.

Next, I went to work on a shirt for my dad.  He is not a fan of anything even remotely flamboyant, and actually poked a little fun at my brother's fabric choices.  But after seeing the first shirt, he did mention that he might like a linen shirt for his birthday.  We chose a beautiful blue from Fabric Mart's designer-quality line.  (Fabric Mart is not to be confused with Hawaii Fabric Mart - two different sites/stores).  The fabric lived up to its name.  It is gorgeous - with a satisfying heft and beautiful drape - and lovely to sew.  I will definitely buy it again in the future.

Now here's where I'm stupid a second time - I didn't make a muslin for my dad's shirt.  I also really should have chosen a different pattern - my dad likes his shirts relaxed and I now knew this pattern was skin tight a slimmer cut.  I measured him, and he is 42-39-41 1/2.  The XL is supposed to fit a man of proportions 44 1/8-40-46 5/8. I cut the XL with an extra 2" of length (because my dad likes his shirts long as well as roomy), and added an extra 1/2" to the side seams on both fronts and back for good measure.

In any case, again, the fit was no bueno.  I couldn't even put the button placket together at the bottom, and my dad's hips are supposedly 5 inches under the XL hip measurement.  My dad said "I think I need about eight more inches across the shirt." I said "I can give you 1"."  And then I felt really badly because I hadn't given enough thought to sizing.  An inch extra of ease wasn't going to result in a shirt that he would feel comfortable in.  That night, I lay awake thinking what to do.  I ended up cutting 3" panels and inserting them at the side seams, all the way from the shirt hem to the sleeve hem.  I flat-felled all the seams.  This added about 4" of ease and made the shirt fit much better.  I was all ready to discuss the concept of a "design element" with my classic-style-loving dad, but his eyesight isn't great and I don't think he has even noticed the panels!

After I was done with that shirt, a little ragged but determined to finish the job, I went back to the second cut of rayon for my brother.  I forgot to jot down sizing notes while I was sewing it, and I'm typing up this post after two weeks of beachy bliss, so I don't remember exactly what I did.  I think I sized up to the XL everywhere except the shoulder, which I cut to a size L, because it was a perfect fit on the first shirt.  

Sizing up did the trick, and allowed me to flat-fell the seams.  You can see in the below photo that the upper chest/neck fits much better despite the fact that I kept the L shoulder.  And, yes, he proved me right on the ironing.  Although I presented him the shirt on a hanger, he decided it was better stored in a ball on the floor until he wore it to dinner ...

I used coconut-shell buttons on all the shirts in this post; after I exhausted my Fiji-sourced supply, I started looking for more on eBay.  I was surprised when I found them at Walmart while buying thread, but they look pretty much exactly like the ones from Fiji.  

 

I didn't think about how I was going to make a split hem whilst utilizing flat-felled seams until after the pattern pieces were cut, so I ended up fudging it with a bit of seam binding.  For a casual shirt, it worked fine.

On to the last shirt.

I hadn't planned to make J another shirt, but it seemed silly barbaric to order fabric from Hawaii and not even let him pick out a cut of fabric.  And then I had a week left before our trip, so, naturally, he had to get another shirt, too.  Having (finally) learned from my previous errors, I had him try on the shirts I had made for my brother and my father, and we decided to make him a straight size L despite the fact that his measurements place him squarely in the M size.  This worked well for him, and I was even able to flat-fell all the seams.  And after sewing three shirts in two weeks, I had his made, cutting to buttons, in four hours, even with having to recut one of the front pieces.

His is also in rayon, with coconut shell buttons.  I washed his shirt while we were on vacation, though, and sadly, the collar is now fraying at one of the points.  I actually tried not to trim that point too closely, and now I'm not sure what to do.  Probably Fray-Check and some zigzagging.

Gripes about the sizing aside, I enjoyed sewing these shirts.  The pieces come together well and the instructions are quite good.  I do think there is an error in the way the collar is sewn.  The instructions instruct you to clip the shirt neckline, and not the collar stand.  If you do this, though, the neckline becomes much too wide for the collar stand.  I actually needed to clip the collar stand where it attaches to the neckline, in order to make it fit, so that's how I sewed these shirts.

I will definitely be sewing more of these in the future, just making sure to size up.  For now, though, I'm glad that my shirt-making marathon has ended!

Negroni Bula

My former neighbor in Georgia, who now lives in Fiji, passed through town a couple of months ago.  She very thoughtfully brought me some fabric and a pile of coconut shell buttons.  Orange happens to be my husband's favorite color, so it was clear that this cut had to become a Fijian bula shirt.

This is the Colette Negroni, which I've had in my stash for a couple of years, but which I'd never sewn before.  I sewed a size M according to J's measurements.  I actually added two inches of length for my 6'1" husband, but it turned out he didn't need them.  The size M fits his shoulders and chest well but it was a little snug in the belly area, so I ended up sewing the side seams up with a 1/4" allowance, blending to the prescribed 5/8" allowance when I got to the sleeves.

I'm quite proud of my pattern matching across the front.  I also really like the way the print looks on him.  The pattern is busy, but it's perfect for a breezy vacation shirt, and we both love the flame red and orange shades.

As far as construction, the sewing was fairly easy.  I did find the burrito-method yoke attachment and the attachment of the front facing at the shoulders to be a little fussy.  I haven't done that before, though, so that's probably why.   I do know that I really dislike having a floppy front facing in place of a regular button placket.  It feels bulky and messy to me, and is even more of a deal breaker because the darn facing curls in on itself after being laundered.  SO I'm going to have to press the darn thing every time I wash it.  Here is how it looks out of the wash:

No bueno.

I've never seen a shirt with a facing like this in RTW, but when I went looking for other patterns, I found that a lot of the Big Four options also had facings instead of plackets.   Is this a common finish for a home-sewn shirt?

In any case, now that I've got more crazy shirt sewing in my future (my brother has requested one for his birthday, and we ordered more fabric to make J one, as well), I'm shopping around for another pattern.  One with a regular button placket.  I think I'm going to try the Fairfield from Thread Theory, with the downloadable wider collar option.  I will also be using more of these awesome coconut shell buttons.

I'd write more, but I have to go iron this shirt ...

J is looking a bit perturbed at the additional housework his shirt will require.  But not perturbed enough to stop wearing it.

A stack of Strathconas and coverstitch love

So, I may have mentioned my new coverstitch machine once or twice.  In the seven months I've been using it, I've hemmed more than 50 knit garments.  And not one of those hems has broken.

Not one.

This is huge.

Having a coverstitch machine has been a game changer for me.  I have not purchased a single knit garment for anyone in my family since I started using it.

Before, I would sew the t-shirts and the leggings, but it was usually an exercise in frustration.  My sewing machine, I suspect, hates knits more than most sewing machines.  Despite my best efforts and all the tricks in the book (stretch stitch, walking foot, stretch needle, ballpoint needle, Microtex needle, universal needle, knit stay tape, regular stay tape, Wonder tape, tissue paper, Woolly Nylon, etc.- seriously, I have tried everything); no matter what, the machine would still skip stitches and chew up and/or build giant poopy birds' nests under my fabric. The tension would be uneven, and sometimes it would just stop sewing altogether.  And still, I would muddle through, get it done and make it work. But then a day/week/month later the hem would break and then the garment would molder in my mending pile forever.  And because I hate mending, often my kids would outgrow the clothes before I took care of them.  Wasted time, wasted fabric.  And this made me more apt to throw a few t-shirts into my cart at the thrift store.

But now? Between my serger (Brother 1034D) and my coverstitch (Brother 2340CV), I can sew all the knits. I can use hem bands if I want to, but if I don't want to, I am free to turn up and coverstitch any old hem I please. The coverstitch is not fiddly to thread like my serger, so changing threads really isn't a big deal.  And I use it all the time.

For me, the coverstitch made sense.  My kids and I live in knits, and for Natasha and myself especially, it's not easy to find tees and leggings that fit properly.  I love being able to sew them for us, and now I love not having to mend them. If you sew a lot of knits and have trouble with popping hems, I'm here to tell you that the coverstitch is a worthwhile investment and that you really won't regret getting one.

Recently I used the coverstitch to finish three Thread Theory Strathcona tees that I made my husband earlier this month.  Like any smart fabricaholic, I used J's lack of enthusiasm vis a vis the fabric I chose for his first Strathcona, to buy more fabric.  I made sure there was an orange knit in the bunch for my neutral-hating husband.

I sewed the shirts in a size medium again.  I shortened all the sleeves by 3" and hemmed them up 1/2".  The length on the orange tee is per the pattern; the other two are shortened by 1".

His first comment upon trying them on was, "Wow, these are stretchy." I guess he doesn't have much experience wearing Lycra, but as he has to use his right arm to stuff his left through the sleeve, the stretch actually makes it easier for him to put these on.  Score one for wife-made shirts.

The knits are all from The Fabric Fairy, except for the mustard neckband on the light blue shirt, which is Art Gallery knit in Sahara Sun.  The light blue and the charcoal are both beefy 10 oz knits with excellent recovery.  They are fabulous - a rare cotton/lycra knit that is truly thick and stretchy enough to make durable kid leggings - and I plan to order more of the charcoal for just that purpose. I have no affiliation with The Fabric Fairy - I just think these are really high-quality fabrics.

Since I made these, J has been wearing them whenever he's home.  That makes me happy, and I'll make him a few long-sleeved ones in the fall.

Striped Strathcona

My husband often jokes, "When are you going to make me a suit?" And I tell him that I will never make him a suit.  Never say never, but honestly, few sewing prospects excite me less than the idea of tackling a full men's suit.

But a t-shirt? That I can do.

Last year I bought the Thread Theory Parkland Wardrobe Builder. I love all three pieces and am looking forward to making the Jedediah shorts this summer and a Newcastle cardigan for fall.  But first I tried out the Strathcona Henley.

I measured J carefully, this being the first time I have ever sewn for him, and he fell squarely into the medium size.  I was concerned, having read reviews that recommended sizing up, that this might be too small, but decided to go ahead and as you can see, it is fine.  I read over the instructions for the placket, noting that those without much experience sewing knits were encouraged to hand sew the placket.  I have a lot of knit experience, though, so I figured I could handle it.  Plus, I wasn't sure that hand-sewing through six layers of fabric and two of interfacing at the bottom of the placket was going to be all that easy.

Well.  I had a beast of a time with that placket. I lost count of how many times I ripped out my top stitching, how many times I re-pressed the placket, how many times I tugged at it to get it to sit right. And finally I gave up.  It's a t-shirt.  It should not take 5 hours to sew.  The placket looks ok from a distance, and I guess that is fine, as no one but me should be getting that close to my husband anyway ;)

J is 6'1" but his height is all in his legs.  So I cut 3" off the hem before turning it up 1". I probably should have cut off just 2".  I cut the short sleeves per the pattern but ended up taking 3" off those, too, and I like the length they ended up.

I asked him how he liked it and he was kind of blasé about the whole thing.  It turns out he's not particularly fond of the fabric I chose.  The Cloud 9 organic cotton interlock is dreamy to wear (I know, I tried the shirt on to see how it would look on me - and it's definitely cut for a man, in case you were wondering), but he does not like the color.

I may have told him to suck it up.  I think the color really suits him, and it is a nice neutral to go with some of his more colorful shorts. But I have ordered some rust orange, charcoal and light blue knits to make him a couple basic tees from the pattern.  The man loves orange.

I don't think it is super-noticeable in these photos, but J's left shoulder is lower than his right.  This is a result of the stroke.  While his left shoulder and arm are no longer entirely immobile, they are still vastly weaker than the right side.  So his muscles don't hold his left shoulder up the way they do his right.  As I was writing this post, I noticed that the neckline of the shirt shifts over to the left until it is stopped by his neck.  In addition to making it look like the shirt is too big on the left side, it makes the left sleeve does hang funny off his shoulder and it looks as though it is longer than the right sleeve, when in fact they are exactly the same.  

Going forward, I wonder whether there is an easy fix for this issue.  I've heard about sloping shoulder adjustments but don't know exactly what they entail, nor whether it is possible to do the adjustment on one shoulder only. If anyone has any thoughts, I'd be happy to hear your ideas!

Thanks for reading!

Gifts for sports fans

My little brothers, like most guys I know, are crazy hard to shop for.  This year, the gift budget being a little smaller than in years past, I decided to experiment and make some gifts for them.  

So I went to Joann's in search of sports team fabric.  I found their favorite football teams' logos printed on cotton, but I had to steel myself to buy the fabric.  Ugh.  It is without a doubt the worst quality cotton I have ever felt.  

I love Parks and Rec.

Anyway, the fabric is super-stiff, even after washing, and printed totally off-grain.  It actually made me kind of mad how much they charge for it.  Thankfully I did not need much, and it was on sale.

My 26-year-old bro, who has the wherewithal to buy himself whatever he wants, likes to cook and recently got all excited about a deal on a set of Rubbermaid food containers from Amazon.  I made him a pair of Dallas Cowboys potholders.  I have to admit, I'd never really considered potholders a reasonable gift until a very thoughtful friend gave me a set from Sur La Table for my birthday.  Besides matching my kitchen curtains and being completely adorable, they are the cushiest, least-burn-y potholder I've ever owned.  And I've owned a lot of crappy potholders.  So I decided to model my Cowboys potholders on those.

After doing a fair amount of research on the Internet on the best way to make potholders heat-resistant, I still distinctly had no idea what to do.  So I picked up some Insul-Brite and batting at Joann's.  I pinned the fabrics together and used them to grab on to my hot iron to test their heat resistance.  One layer of Insul-Brite was not enough, so I used two for the main potholder (the part that will touch the hot pans) and two layers of batting for the pocket (though I could easily have used just one.  I quilted the two layers and hand-finished the binding (only because with all the bulk, it would have been really hard to stitch evenly through all the layers).  Also I accidentally did not put the hanging loops on the same corners of both potholders. I doubt he will notice that, though.

My youngest brother, who is 23 and about to get engaged, is getting a gag gift along with a meat injector (he also likes to cook).  We all poke lighthearted fun of the fact that he likes to sleep with an eye mask.  It's nothing froofy, just something that he got on a flight way back when airlines actually gave you stuff to make your flight comfortable (anyone remember those days?).  I knew he would not appreciate potholders, nor really anything I could make him, so I decided to go funny.  I used his favorite Steelers fabric and a scrap of cotton velveteen to make an eye mask (free pattern).

I left out the batting because I don't think it's necessary.  I also shortened the fabric part of the strap because it was way too long, especially in this horrid stiff cotton.

I can't wait to give it to him.  It is going to be hilarious.