Am I the only one who doesn’t like sewing buttons on?
I made this shirt almost 6 weeks ago and have only just got around to putting the last couple of buttons on. It’s such a tedious job at the best of times when it’s only the front placket that needs doing, but this shirt has an extra eight ( pocket, sleeve tab and 2 on each cuff). But I got there in the end, mainly as I wanted to wear it on the weekend.
The pattern is one that I’ve made four or five times now. It is from Knipmode, back in 2012. An oversized long-sleeved shirt with reverse patch pockets and flaps. Last time I made it in a pixel plaid fabric. The layout was really tedious and at the time, I swore off buying fabric that needed to be matched. Ha, ha! Because I’ve gone down that track again.
This fabric was a yarn-dyed cotton with an uneven stripe pattern. I’ve mirrored the front pieces, using the wide stripe along the button band and at the base of the yoke and cuffs.
The stripes were matched through the pocket, flap and front yoke.
And the collar was cut so the stripes lined up when the collar was open
I would have liked to match the broad stripe at the sleeve head but didn’t quite have enough fabric. I was able to match the stripes on the sleeve placket and also on the tabs.
I like this next photo, not so much for the shirt, but because the grass in the background there is a slight green tinge and it is overcast with the promise of rain. We’ve had so little for a second winter running and it’s not likely to be much for another 9 months. Tomorrow is our first 40C+ day for the summer. The green tinge to the grass is almost gone, but we’ve just installed mesh blinds on the western side of the veranda. They are dark green, so at least I can pretend that the grass is still greener on the other side 🙂
At a Glance:
| Pattern | Knipmode #6 August 2012 |
| Fabric | Yarn dyed cotton shirting |
| Difficulty | 3/5 – the shirt is relatively easy to put together. Pocket construction is a little different to the normal |
| End Result | 5/5 – I’m going to get a lot of wear out of this shirt. |
| Cost | AU$10. |
sewTREEFROG 
Love it, especially all your colour matching.
And I have to admit, it’s always the finishing touches that seem to trip me up. I must have psychological issues about finishing things!
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Thanks. Yes, the finishing touches always take the longest 🙂
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Next level stripe matching! Great shirt. 🙂
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Thanks Sasha.
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Wow, great job on the stripe matching!
I hate sewing on buttons, learned out to use the sewing machine’s button foot and now I avoid shank buttons.
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🙂 Glad that I’m not the only one. Thanks for the tip. I should give that machine foot another try.
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Lovely! both the shirt and the grass. I do hope you get some rain.
I am so impressed that you matched the collar to the shirt stripes when open. That would never have occurred to me and I wouldn’t have been able to make it work if I had thought of it. It looks awesome. I love your fabric and you’ve made a great shirt.
I don’t hate sewing on buttons but I hate making buttonholes. I have to do them manually on my machine and I always manage to mess up at least one by not quite thinking through the direction, or putting an extra stitch in the horizontal, or something.
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Thanks Lyndle. I hope the rain has been more favourable ‘across the ditch’ than it has been here. I usually hold my breath when stitching buttonholes, but my current machine is pretty good. Manual buttonholes sound really scary and I admire you no end!
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The pattern matching is perfect and the collar oh my. Buttons are a bain in my life as well but thankfully it only happens on knitting cardigans and they are few and far between.
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