Welcome to my second post on the Breaking Ground Blog Tour hosted and organized by Melissa Evans of Mahlica Designs. On Tuesday, I posted about my foray into the patterns created by Coffee & Thread. Today, I will be talking about my adventures with menswear. I made the Fairfield Button-Up Shirt by Thread Theory.

Prior to now, I had yet to make any men’s button-down shirts. Yet, I have a whole section of my fabric stash dedicated to woven fabrics that my husband has picked out for just this purpose. He loves wearing Hawaiian-style shirts, and I’ve been promising to make him one forever. Well, at least for the nearly five years we’ve been married. It was definitely time to make him a shirt.

Breaking Ground with Thread Theory Designs Inc.

Before now, the only other thing I had made my husband was a pair of jeans (Austin Jeans by Momma Quail). So, he’s been quite left out of the loop when it comes to getting handmade goodies sewn up for him.  Not only were the jeans the first garment I made for him, but they were also the first pair of jeans I’ve made. (Jeans are pictured to the left).

Fast forward about half a year, and here I am. I chose to do the Fairfield Button Up Shirt by Thread Theory Designs Inc. because the shirt is so versatile. I downloaded the short sleeve modification. The pattern has a few different options – a pleated or darted back, pocket or no pocket, and with or without a hidden sleeve tab for the original long-sleeved version. You can also download free add-ons like I did for the short sleeves, for pocket variations, and for collar variations.

The pattern also features a yoke, flat felled seams, and a curved hem.

This makes the Fairfield a very versatile pattern to have.

The Sewing Process

I was really nervous about sewing a tailored-style shirt. It turned out, I had no reason to be nervous. In addition to having well-explained instructions, the Thread Theory Blog is an excellent resource for information about altering the shirt to get a perfect fit. The actual sewing took a while because of the top-stitching and the flat-felled seams. It was definitely well-worth the time put in. I love how this shirt turned out, and I’m even looking forward to discovering the hidden button-down shirt stash when we start unpacking the fabric boxes we moved. It was an easier project than I’d expected, and now that I have fit notes on the pattern, I can make him more versions of this shirt.

Photo Time

Be sure to scroll down to the end, after the photos, to find a list of the other stops on this blog tour (and please, please visit the other posts! There are a lot of talented folks sharing their ground-breaking makes!)

Other Stops on the Breaking Ground Blog Tour

Monday’s Bloggers:

Anne-Mari Sews, Sewing By Ti, Musings of A Seamstress, Tenille’s Thread, Couturious, Embrace Everyday, Sewing A La Carte

Tuesday’s Bloggers:

mahlicadesigns, Kaleidothought, Ronda B Handmade, Elizabeth Made This

Wednesday’s Bloggers: 
Rainy Day Sewing, Anne-Mari Sews, Sprouting Jube Jube, Sewing A La Carte, Tales of a Tester

Thursday’s Bloggers: 

Lulu & Celeste, Very Blissful, Ronda B Handmade, Adventures with Bubba and Bug, mahlicadesigns

Friday’s Bloggers: 

Anne-Mari Sews, Tales of a Tester, Sewing By Ti, Musings of A Seamstress, Harper + Lu, Sewing A La Carte, Sprouting Jube Jube, Lulu & Celeste

For more information on the clothing and other items I make, and to learn how to order custom garments for you or a loved one, please join my Facebook group, here. Meanwhile, please share your thoughts and how you’ve broken ground recently in the comments section.