the Dayo shirt
Some of you know that I’ve been participating in the Men’s Shirt Sew-A-Long over at Male Pattern Boldness. I was a little slow off the mark making the muslin/toile, but after a solid chunk of sewing on the weekend, I have completed what will be known in our family as “the Dayo shirt”.
Why the Dayo shirt, you ask? The fabric was a gift to mr thornberry some years ago from a work colleague, Dayo. Dayo’s wife and family live in Nigeria, and she hand-dyed the batik herself. When we first received it I thought “oh my, what will I make out of this?” – but I reckon that this shirt is the perfect match for the fabric, as does my husband!
The pattern is the Negroni shirt, by Collette patterns. I made the size medium, and overall I think it’s a pretty good fit. Because this is the muslin, I made it straight from the pattern, without any alterations. Next time I make it I will:
- shorten the sleeves about half an inch
- narrow the back yoke so it’s not so wide across the shoulders (and adjust the sleeve cap accordingly)
- make the first button lower down (and adjust the rest accordingly)
- narrow the facings – I think they’re much wider than necessary.
One of my husband’s shoulders is lower than the other, which we weren’t really aware of until I took all these photos to see what needed to be adjusted! I don’t think I’m going to make any alterations to take that into account. It does make the pockets look as though they are on slightly different levels – which they aren’t – but I figure that no-one is likely to notice that on a shirt that is in motion.
The instructions for the sleeve plackets and cuffs were great and they came together beautifully. I’d still like to draft a collar and stand for this shirt too, so that I have that option. There are plenty of instructions around on how to do that, including on the Male Pattern Boldness blog.
So there you have it – the Dayo shirt, aka the Negroni muslin. Definitely wearable as is – and you’ll all find him in a crowd. He’s definitely lost all anonymity with this one – especially because you can see him wearing it over here as well!
Mr Thornberry looks very spiffy indeed!
I like the shape of the shirt – its nice and slimming, and you definitely won’t lose him in the crowd.
I love it Lara – such a wonderful job. Tell Mr Thornberry that he looks awesome.
Oh my goodness – that is brilliant! Love the fabric, cut, everything. And may I just say that Mr Thornberry is a little bit ‘hubba hubba’ as well?
Oh Lara, what a fabulous muslin. It looks really fantastic! I love how the pockets have turned out … and Mr Thornberry looks handsome in orange.
(I better get my you-know-what into gear and finish my Negroni muslin – I seem to be participating in the sew-along in a parallel universe!)
Hi there, I adore the shirt. It is so refreshing, and with a hint of non-conformity. Love your inspiring blog too. I am here: http://mypangaloon.blogspot.com/ have a gorgeous day . Jo
Wow love it well done
Perfect material for this shirt and I think he looks very spiffy in it and especially with the hat. I think the shirt is very masculine and has very good lines.
Beautiful fabric and a wonderful shirt it looks good on him. When we go on vacation my hubby packs away the tie-dye t-shirts that I make. On top of the acropolis in Athens amongst 2000 people I could pick him out, a real bonus.
great use of the special fabric! He looks happy with it too. Any of the fantastic fabric left over for some rosettes for the girls hair?
At first glance I thought OMG that is too bright to wear outside the home – but with more photos and the big grin on his face, I could see it being a star favourite shirt to wear! Can I just suggest undoing the top button – it will take 5 years off him!!