I know Rifle & Co prints are big - HUGE! Quite a few sewists have made some beautiful garments using fabric from this line. While I like the prints I've seen, I've never felt like I NEEDED to own one...well not until I saw this one on Stylemaker Fabrics site. I was honestly bowled over by the border print which is how this shirt came to be.
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There is nothing new in the construction of this shirt. I used my close-fitting TNT shirt pattern with the shirt tail hemline for this version. Initially I was going to use the TNT shirt with the gathered back. However, after thinking about it, the border print would be more impactful in the closer fitting shirt. So that's what I did.
I'd like to discuss one thing I do in making my shirts regarding the button bands. On some shirts I use the foldover button bands. On others, I've cut it off and replaced the band with a sewn on band.
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What I'm saying is that I don't interface this band whether it's folded over or sewn on. Recently there was a popular sewist on Instagram saying that you had to add interfacing to the band, that the three layers of fabric was insufficient.
I've made over a dozen shirts now using this fold & turn method and never had a problem with buttonholes being wonky or the buttons not being stable on my shirts. So why did I bring this up? Because there are several ways to sew things and no one way is always the "right" way. Try out a couple of techniques and see which one works for you. Then use what works for you.
Materials Used ~
4 yards Rifle & Co Empire Garden cotton border print
Interfacing from Steinlauf & Stoeller
10 1/2" 2-hole navy blue buttons from my button collection
Design Details ~
First I've used border prints before. I really like working with them and collect them whenever I find them. Here's a blog post I've written about sewing with border prints.
This shirt has no exceptional use of the border print but I didn't believe it needed any. This is a bold print that uses a large portion of the fabric. My decision was how to make the print work best for me. So the body of the print is along the bottom and mid-body for this shirt.
The sleeves and back yoke were cut from the starry portion of the fabric.
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Collar, cuffs and the inner back yoke were cut from the border print.
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This allowed the shirt to showcase the border print with the maximum effect.
A few pictures ~
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Conclusion ~
This is the first shirt completed in the border print shirt series. I have a few more left to make before the series is done. Next up is a cotton sateen border print shirt made from the Fabric Mart fabric haul recently purchased.
...as always more later!
I'd like to discuss one thing I do in making my shirts regarding the button bands. On some shirts I use the foldover button bands. On others, I've cut it off and replaced the band with a sewn on band.
What I'm saying is that I don't interface this band whether it's folded over or sewn on. Recently there was a popular sewist on Instagram saying that you had to add interfacing to the band, that the three layers of fabric was insufficient.
I've made over a dozen shirts now using this fold & turn method and never had a problem with buttonholes being wonky or the buttons not being stable on my shirts. So why did I bring this up? Because there are several ways to sew things and no one way is always the "right" way. Try out a couple of techniques and see which one works for you. Then use what works for you.
Materials Used ~
4 yards Rifle & Co Empire Garden cotton border print
Interfacing from Steinlauf & Stoeller
10 1/2" 2-hole navy blue buttons from my button collection
Design Details ~
First I've used border prints before. I really like working with them and collect them whenever I find them. Here's a blog post I've written about sewing with border prints.
This shirt has no exceptional use of the border print but I didn't believe it needed any. This is a bold print that uses a large portion of the fabric. My decision was how to make the print work best for me. So the body of the print is along the bottom and mid-body for this shirt.
The sleeves and back yoke were cut from the starry portion of the fabric.
Collar, cuffs and the inner back yoke were cut from the border print.
This allowed the shirt to showcase the border print with the maximum effect.
A few pictures ~
This is the first shirt completed in the border print shirt series. I have a few more left to make before the series is done. Next up is a cotton sateen border print shirt made from the Fabric Mart fabric haul recently purchased.
...as always more later!