Sewing for men alert: I’ve made my first ever piece of menswear – a pair of Fairfield Button-Up shirts by Thread Theory.

I firmly believe that selfless sewing is not something that anyone should feel required to aspire to. As Kimberley very thoughtfully pointed out in a comment to an earlier post I wrote on this topic, no one expects a golfer to justify why his hobby isn’t selfish. But, since selfish sewing is so rare for me, I still wanted to show off this couple of Fairfield button-up shirts that I made for my hubbie’s recent birthday.

Some random garment trivial before continuing. Thanks to a recent episode of the Love to Sew podcast I learned that there is a difference between button-down and button-up shirts! I had previously thought the terms to be interchangeable. In fact, a button down shirt must have buttons on each side of the collar, buttoning the collar to the shirt. Whereas a button-up shirt is basically any buttoned-in-the-front shirt without this feature. You learn something new everyday…

Before continuing, I apologise in advance for the less than stellar photography in this post. You can definitely tell that hubby  has much more skill being the one behind the camera than I do!! Still, hope this pics are good enough to give you a sense of these Fairfield Button-Ups – wrinkles and all!

Promises, promises

I have to confess that I’ve been telling my other half, for years now, that I would love to sew for him.

Which is true!!! Honest!

But it’s taken a long time to actually get around to it…

Sewing time is just so precious these days. The thought of dedicating days of it for something that I’m not actually going to wear is, well, a little tough for me. But, I’m glad I finally got there, as this project was one of the most rewarding ever in terms of learning and enjoying the process.

All the lovely details

After many years of sewing indie sewing patterns, I have to say that the Fairfield Button-Up feels like it is one of the most meticulously researched and designed patterns I have ever sewn.

Hats off to Thread Theory for an amazing job well done.

This was my first time sewing with them (or sewing men’s clothing, for that matter). It has unexpectedly inspired me to sew more of their menswear in the future. This pattern really is just that well put-together and the online sewalong resources soooo comprehensive.

Plus, here’s a real sign of just how much I loved this pattern.

In the course of sewing these Fairfield Button-Up shirts, I broke my overlocker knives and had to order a replacement. Then my sewing machine broke and I had to take it in for repair. Given these setbacks, it all came down to the wire and I had to finish these the night before hubby’s birthday. Sooo many button-holes…

But, despite all that, I look at these shirts with nothing but warm fuzzy feelings.

That doesn’t happen very often for a cranky sewist like me!!!

Falling for the flat fell!

The Fairfield Button-Up pattern also made me really appreciate the level of tailoring and technique that goes into men’s shirts. I have made a few shirts in my time, so I wasn’t expecting that the Fairfield Button-Up would involve much that was new to me.

And in one sense, it wasn’t. I’ve sewn plackets before. And collars.

But the difference was really in the detail.

A proper men’s shirt has a level of detail that I hadn’t really applied to my previous shirt-sewing forays.

In particular, all those flat-fell seams have a really elevating effect!

I learned all kinds of things about flat-felling while sewing these Fairfield Button-Ups. For example, it would never have crossed my mind that it is physically possible to flat-fell all the way down an arm seam by “stitching in a tunnel”. And don’t even get me started about how proud I am to have  flat-felled an armhole seam. I have always been in awe when I have read about people french-seaming their armholes, but after flat-felling this armhole, I totally get it. The sense of satisfaction of getting it all neatly tucked away in such a tricky area.

Ultimate sewists high…

Oh and don’t even get me started on how much I adore the little tabs that let you roll up the sleeves…

Double standards?

The level of technique and attention to finish in the Fairfield Button-Up also got me wondering why some of the RTW women’s shirts I own, don’t have the same level of attention to detail? Is it just because most of mine come from  fashion stores, rather than specialist shirt stores? Or do women’s shirts generally not get the same treatment as men’s shirts?

In any event, I definitely see myself incorporating some fancy flat-felling into my own next versions of the Kalle shirt!

I’ve sewn up both variation A (pleated back) and variation B (darted back) of the Fairfield Button-up.

I used the pattern pieces designed for figures with a more rounded stomach – the pattern usefully includes two variants of the pattern pieces: one being more slim-fitting and one designed for figures that are fuller around the waist.

If you’re interested in the fabric details, version A is made out of the lovely Goodnight linen from Merchant and Mills, whereas version B is a random cotton I picked up at a random Toto store in Lille last year.

Fitting the Fairfield Button-Up

The pattern and sewalong recommend sewing a muslin. If you do so, the fitting tips available in Thread Theory’s sewlong are unreal.

I don’t muslin. But, even as a muslin-hater, I have to say that a muslin wouldn’t be a bad idea for this project, especially if the fabric is special.

I cut out an XL and shortened the length 4cm at the outset and the sleeve length 3cm, after comparing finished garment measurements to his body measurement. I then basted it all together to check the fit. This was not actually easy because, since the pattern is designed to be flat felled, the seam allowances are offset. I obviously wasn’t going to flat-fell for a baste-test, so I did a bit of guess work at the seam allowances while baste fitting. My baste fit led to me adding a bit more shaping around the waistline and taking in some excess fabric add the side seams.

While still not perfect, I feel that these Fairfields fit my husband a million times better than any RTW shirt he’s ever owned.

Placket Magic

The contrast cuffs are the part of the shirt I am most proud of! Check these babies out.

I actually cut these out of an old Colette Sorbetto shirt of mine. I never wore the shirt due to an inappropriate fabric/pattern combo. And  hubby had always really loved the fabric.

So here is its new lease on life.

Plus, not only is the cuff constrasting, so is the interior of the sleeve placket!

In the super-detailed information contained in the wonderful Fairfield Button-Up Sewalong, it is discussed that while home sewing patterns tend to offer a sleeve placket as a single pattern piece, commercial sewing patterns tend to use two pieces.

I wonder if the two piece sleeve placket variant might make it easier to do a “mullet placket” like mine – party on the inside, business on the outside?

In any event, in order to achieve this effect using the sleeve placket in the Fairfield Button Up, I sewed a seam along the line marked 5 of the pattern, as you see in the photo below.

This meant that once everything was folded into place, you end up with colour on the inside and all smart business attire on the out.

I also made a little addition to the sleeve placket based on a technique I learned in the Closet Case Kalle shirts. I added strips of interfacing into the placket. I think it adds a lovely crispness.

And the challenges

One failing that I am a little disappointed about is that I didn’t entirely succeed in my flat-fell seams. In the linen Fairfield Button-Up, after the first wash, one of my seams unravelled – like so:
So, while I really tried to go slow and be careful, I obviously didn’t quite catch everything in there like I needed to. I am also wondering whether, due to the high-fraying properties of this linen, I should have actually overlocked my raw edges before doing the flat-felled seams. But, too late now. After the above unravelling, I actually ended up having to re-do the side seams as a faux-flat fell, using my overlocker. But, luckily, hubby isn’t too fussed. Plus, it gave me the chance to remove a little excess fabric, which is why the plain linen shirt fits a bit better than the cotton one for now. (Until I can muster the energy to also take the cotton one in a little…)

The words every wife wants to hear…

And, of course, after presenting these two shirts to hubby for his birthday (and fixing up the one that came apart in the wash), I received the highest possible compliment.

“You can sew all of my shirts now…”

Nooooooooooo………

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here.