Back in the Saddle

Finally got back to doing some sewing. It just seems like life keeps dragging me away from it. I decided that if I had to I'd work in small bits of time, even 15 minutes if that's all I can carve out. That helps and I got one of Stan's birthday shirts done in three sessions. Well, you might call it four-Stan has lost quite a bit of weight, around 40 pounds. He kept insisting that the XL would fit him still. I tried to explain to him that pattern sizes are bigger than ready to wear.

He came back from mushroom hunting (it's morel season in Montana) just after I finished the shirt. When he tried it on partly assembled he threw it over his shirt, which didn't give us a true estimate of fit. It was huge on him! So back down to the sewing room to do some remodeling. Fortunately men's shirts are relatively easy to alter. I took close to 6" out of the chest and sides, plus raised the shoulder seams by about 1 1/2". Looks better now.

The other shirt is cut out, but I'll dig out a smaller pattern and recut it. Stan is happy at least one of his birthday shirts is done-his birthday was in December!