I had always fancied making a man’s shirt and a year or so ago, I saw a lovely shirt being made by Kim, one of my sewing buddies.  She pointed me in the direction of the Fairfield Shirt by Thread Theory, a Canadian indie company.  The beauty of the Fairfield is that it has a variety of collars, cuffs, sleeve lengths and even patterns for the gentlemen who have a bit of a tum!

I bought at that time some beautiful pink linen and had a real desire to put some details on it such as facings and inside cuffs in Liberty Lawn.  There it sat gazing at me for quite some while until I made a decision to just GET ON WITH IT!  My task was made easier by the fact that despite the shirt pattern having some excellent instructions, there is also a “sew along” on Thread Theory”s blog with different pictures and advice.

I bought some proper shirt collar stiffening and set to.  I did some samples of the sleeve placket to ensure that I had it right and I also played around with buttonholes on my machine.

So here is the finished garment.  Photographed on a hanger as the owner is a little camera-shy but it fits beautifully and I am delighted with how the collar has turned out.

Hopefully I shall grab a photo or two of him in it on holiday!

Here is a photo of the placket and cuff.

And the inside.

Both fabrics came from my favourite supplier: Bloomsbury Square Fabrics

Would I make it again?  I can’t wait.  I love the need for accuracy and the range of different techniques that a shirt asks of you.  A challenge but a really enjoyable one!