Speed Sewing 2

My first time in Boulder, I took a shirt-sewing class.   With practice, I got pretty good at it.

But, Bad Dad is so hard on his clothes and not discerning enough to warrant my precious sewing time.

He did ask for short-sleeved shirts that he can wear in lab, that don't require ironing, and look presentable enough to step into a meeting.

I purchased 5 shirts at Goodwill on Saturday for the princely sum of $14.  (The olive green solid shirt is a more expensive technical outdoor shirt, but a bargain at $4 instead of the > $100 they normally cost new.)

Three of the shirts mutated from long-sleeved to short-sleeved thusly:

Measure and mark off your desired length + 1.5".   (I cut mine 6.5" from the underarm seam for a ~5" sleeve length.)  Notice that the sleeves taper toward the cuff.  Stitching a smooth hem will not be easy.

If you turned up a hem the way short-sleeved sport shirts are normally hemmed, by turning under 1/4" and then another 1", you'd have a mess.  The sleeve circumference varies about 3/4" between two spots 2" apart along the length.

You need to turn under a smaller amount, about 5/8".  This way, the difference between the two circumferences is manageably small.  Turn under 5/8" once.  Make 4 snips near the underarm seam that extend just shy of the fold.   The snips won't show, but they will allow a little bit of extra girth.  Turn under 3/4".  Stretch, steam and press to help the hem lie flat.

The hem area will still a bit shorter than the sleeve once the fabric relaxes.  Use C = 2πr to your advantage.  Hem from the outside so that the smaller part is on the inside of the cylinder.

Give it a good press again with steam.

Three short-sleeved shirts for lab.

In other news, I finally finished DD's Halloween costume and mailed it off to her priority mail so she can wear it to school on Friday Oct 30.  I also altered the green mock-wrap top to reduce the front gape.  I just need to make her birthday outfit, stitch curtains for the guest room, finish the last pair of pillows and I can engage in some selfish sewing.

Speed Sewing 1