impetus

In the heat of the summer last July, Luke lamented that all his button-down work shirts were hot, stuffy and uncomfortable.  "If only" he began, "If, only I had a light, breezy version of a work shirt that looked awesome and felt even awesome-er."  "Like a linen shirt?"  I proposed.  "Exactly." He replied.

And so, 9 months and 1 week pregnant, I waddled into the fabric store seeking air conditioning and all the makings of a lightweight linen shirt for Luke.  I left with a challenging yet perfect pattern, some gray linen, and the delusion that moms of newborns have any time to sew.

Fortunately moms of 8-month-olds do occasionally have time to sew (for as long as dads are willing to chase babies around the house on all fours).

I have to admit that after a dress-sewing fiasco a while back I kind of lost my confidence at sewing clothing for adult people.  There is a lot more at stake when working on a larger scale: more complicated patterns, more expensive (and greater quantities of) fabric, and a lot more variation in sizing/fitting the garment.

But I think Luke's shirt was the impetus I needed to give it another try.  I learned a bunch of new stuff and tried some things I've never done before like:

a standing collar and

a back pleat and

my proudest detail, sleeve plackets and cuffs!

Luke has already put in a request for his next shirt, so I'm guessing this was an overall success: he's got a new summer shirt and I have the confidence to give it another go!