Sewing for Josh... sigh.

I know 2013 is officially over, but for some reason I've gotten the urge to cross off another item from last year's resolutions: sewing something for Josh.

"...An excellent idea. Why are you only doing this now?"

I'll admit, I've gone way too long without trying to make him something. Trouble is, last time I tried there were many fitting woes that I didn't know how to handle. Also, Josh doesn't really like to hold still.

This makes fitting difficult. Also, sewing shirts is difficult and fiddly. Isn't it?

But I'm giving it a go with McCalls 6044.

I spent a long time measuring one of his dress shirts, writing everything down, and comparing those measurements to the pattern pieces. Unfortunately, there were a lot of things that weren't quite right with the comparison shirt, even though it's one of his favorites. Too tight in the neck is the big one. After spending a long time measuring, I ended up going with a straight size Medium. The only change I made was to fold a little length out of the sleeve - which seemed weird, because he often comments on how long his arms are. But according to the comparison shirt, that's what I was supposed to do, so I did it. It all seemed like it was going to work...

Boo. It's not awful, but there are some issues, and they're pretty much exactly what I already knew about trying to fit Josh. The neck is too small, and the sleeves are too short. Can I fix it?

Mmmmaybe? For the neck, I'm consulting a tutorial that Tasia did for this issue. It has stuck in my head over the years. I looked it up, and sure enough - true to Tasia style it is extremely clear and well documented. So we'll see if that helps.

For the sleeve length - I can make slightly longer cuffs and use shorter seam allowances. He'll probably roll the sleeves anyway. There's one thing I can't fix, however - the arms cythe is too low.

The whole shirt raises up when he lifts his arms, and I know from my previous adventures with my tailored jacket just what a problem that can be...

What kills me is that I suspected this would be an issue, and then I forgot to do anything about it when I cut the fabric. Note to self: You can always lower an arm scythe. You cannot raise it up. Sigh. This shirt was intended to be a wearable muslin, so I guess I'm not too upset. The fabric was cheap - a flannel I bought last year on super clearance. Still, I was really putting my all into it, finishing it nicely and everything. I even learned to make tower plackets! On the bright side, I found I don't hate sewing a man's shirt. It's actually kinda fun. But fitting Josh? Now I gotta go see if I can get him to stand still again...