I'm blaming Alan H and Sydnee

**brewerpaul** · 30th July 13, 06:31 AM

My nemesis was the placket on long sleeve shirts. I fought with the way patterns told you to make them and gave up on two shirts I was working on for the longest time. All things in time and one day searching for the answer I came up with this video done by the Sewing Guru, yeah thats what he calls himself. Well it is simple, easy and just requires some ability not to burn your fingers with a steam iron. Link below. Ive used it on three shirts now, the two I stowed away and a newer one, and they come out looking quite sharp. Thought I would share this as patterns really have a cruddy way of explaining plackets......

Shirt plackets made easy

Haha, there are a couple of DIY places on the forum here perhaps we should get a sewing corner for all this trade of great information.....

**O'Searcaigh** · 30th July 13, 08:06 AM

Wow, making a dress shirt from scratch is one of the more difficult sewing projects I have ever tried. As far as clergy shirts are concerned, it has always been easier just to convert an already made (regular guy's) shirt to a clergy collar since the collar is the only real difference. Just tucking in a white-tab collar in a button down shirt always seemed a bit tacky to me but it is not difficult to modify (with minimal sewing) a regular dress shirt collar to the equivalent clergy type collar. For a full round white collar (Anglican?) one can simply remove the collar from any regular dress shirt, sew a button on the back (like all banded collar shirts of the 19th century) and attach a clerical collar (or any other kind of collar -- high, wing-tip, rounded etc) as usual. There is a little booklet available (for $5.00USD I believe) that tells how to do all this but it isn't rocket science in any case -- although making a full/complete dress shirt from scratch comes close, in fact, I think I'd rather do rocket science than try that again.

I admire and applaud your efforts, you're a better man than I ' !

**Dixiecat** · 30th July 13, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by plaid preacher

Thank you Dixie. I have seem the church linens site before. As a lowly Presbyterian, a lot of those vestments are not part of my tradition. There is also a pattern set from one of the commercial pattern companies that I have at the house for many of those items as well. The ehow instructions are for a formal "band collar" which I also wear, but only for worship. I am making a shirt with a slip in tab, that just shows a little white at the front. They are much cooler and more comfortable than the band collars for more "everyday" wear. I liked her tip about putting the shirt on inside out to make little tweaks before finishing. Will have to remember that!The pattern I did pick up includes several variations on a man's dress shirt (including French cuffs) as well as a pattern for a vest and tie. (could there be a collection of brightly coloured kilt vests in my future? ... hmmmm). Unfortunately I cannot remember the pattern number off the top of my head.

Be careful when fitting garments inside out as it flips the right and left sides. If you're a symmetrical person then things should work out, but most people have a shoulder higher than the other, a bicep larger ghan the other or an arm lonver than the other. For shirts with a fair amount of ease the differences won't matter too much if they're minor, but in the case of a fitted waistcoat or jacket for instance, the differences can be very noticible.

A good way to preserve pattern pieces is to iron them using a warm iron onto freezer paper.

**Rob, ClanMacMillan, NM** · 31st July 13, 11:25 AM

FWIW: I buy my shirts from http://mercyrobes.com -- while they don't have a huge selection of colors, they have more than enough to match all the kilts I currently own. Colors they have are black, white, burgundy, red, purple (2 shades), royal blue, navy blue, light blue, grey, and even some two-tone ones. Plus, the prices are reasonable as is the quality.

I have to buy my shirts because every attempt at sewing *anything* on my part has been an exercise in futility as well as a lesson in humility

.

Rob.

**plaid preacher** · 2nd August 13, 01:57 PM

Thanks everyone ... for all the hints and encouragement. It is all greatly appeciated. Now that I am back to work, after my vacation, progress is going to slow down considerably; but I will let you know how it turns out.

**piperdbh** · 2nd August 13, 06:58 PM

I don't know if it'll help or hurt, but a short-sleeve shirt usually takes me about 4 hours to make, and a long-sleeve usually a bit over 5 hours. I work slowly and take lots of breaks.