My man wanted a squid shirt..... McCalls M6044

But an octopus shirt he did get.

Firstly this epic fabric is Tokyo Train Ride Octopus Lawn - by Cotton + Steel. It appears to be readily available in the US but I am having some serious issues locating any more of it her in the UK  if anyone knows a way to get more please can you tell me! I'd like to do a bit of selfish sewing with this one too. The fabric is lovely and lightweight with a bit of a soft silky feel to it, and cut, pressed and sewed up like a dream.

This was my first proper foray into menswear so an 'easy' pattern seemed to be the way forward. I used McCall's M6044  casual shirt pattern and I've got to say, its a winner.

This shirt was cut using size M. I was good and made a muslin first from some Alexander Henry 'Inked Girls' fabric I appear to have reams of which highlighted a mini fitting issue across the middle.

The fit was easily rectified by grading out about an inch from under the arm down to the hemline. This allowed for the all important breathing room.

All in all the instructions were very clear and the construction fairly straightforward. I was ridiculously pleased that my collar actually fit to the neckline without coming up short or having some overhang!

I learnt a great trick along the way with this one - to stop threads bunching at the ends of the collar where you are sewing through 4 layers of fabric - start sewing from the middle of the collar out to the plackets and then swap and do the same thing on the opposite side. The machine can easily grab and start sewing with the nice flat material at the centre and prevents wrinkling and pulls as you go along.

The only real nerve wracking bit about this was the buttons as my machine used to have a tendency to chew up any attempt at a button hole - after a nerve-calming gin I pressed ahead and it worked!!

The rolled hem foot attachment of my machine even got a little test drive - there was a bit of unpicking to be done but generally worked out well.

Most importantly Ric absolutely loves the shirt so it's a winner - however we've opened a can of worms as now any fabric is a possible man's shirt option!

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