The Five Versions of McCall's 2149

So I finished Q's shirts.  Even though it is a very simple shirt for what it is, I learned a few things by making these.  I learned that I'm never going to like button holes.  I've learned that no matter how careful you are with your stack and whack technique, it is a completely different story to do four layers of men's striped shirts than it is layers of small quilting pieces (I don't suggest doing this).  I've learned that my husband is way more excited about nerdy things than he first lets on.  I learned that when making a button down, collared shirt out of knit that I need a heavier interfacing for the collar (or maybe a layer for both pieces?).  I learned that my husband has no regular white t-shirts good for wearing under dress shirts.  Finally, I learned that while my girls will hang on to me and follow me around while making clothes for them or myself, they have no interest in the sewing of clothes for Daddy (which is probably why I could finish them so quickly).

Anyway, here are the versions:

The first is lavender seersucker, the cheap kind they sell under the tutti frutti line at Hancock's.

The second is from Star Wars quilting cotton from my local quilt shop.  I've had three other requests for this since this post and apparently almost every place is sold out of this fabric currently.

The third is from a plaid knit.  I missed on the squares here, but I love the way this shirt brings out the blue in his eyes and it really looks nice on him.  The shirt isn't at all dressy, but I'll likely make him more knit versions.

 This fourth and fifth version are actually made from shirting fabrics.  This version is a stretch cotton and the metallic square buttons are the same color as one of the stripes.  I wasn't sure of my button choice, but Q likes it, and I figure as boring conservative as he is in his clothing choices that it is passable.

The final version is a white embroidered cotton fabric that I like enough that I wish I had bought more of it.  There is a very subtle pattern of vertical embroidered stripes of various types.   It reminds me of guayabera shirts and gives it a lot of character in real life that I don't think you can see in the picture.

That's it for now.  I'm thinking that if the girls are being nice, I might make a skirt and top that has been in my queue for a while now and has been traced off and mostly cut for a few weeks.