BUT  a shirt with a bit of a story. When my grand-daughter Megan was planning her wedding she wanted a ‘country’ theme, being in the country, and decided on blue and white with a ‘rustic’ feel. Her favourite flower is the daisy and her tastes are for plain and simple – quite stylish really as it usually is.  She wanted blue and white striped table cloths with  hessian table runners down the middle and wild-[ish] flowers in plain glass containers tied with ‘straw’ [raffia to you and me] down the centres of the tables. It was very pretty and turned out just as she wanted. The only problem was the amount of blue and white striped fabric needed….and then it just so happened that quite a famous superstore, where every little helps, was selling duvet covers of just the right fabric!! In cotton would you believe? and being duvet covers they were nice and big and double sided for the money – what a find. A very good friend offered to unpick, cut and re-hem them all – and there were lots…into very nice table covers. Bonanza! And it didn’t end there…..guess who the lucky recipient of all this gorgeous stuff was afterwards? Yup! together with the hessian too, which as I also do rug hooking is very handy.  Over time I have been using the fabric. I made this shirt. It was a tester really to see if it could look good as a wearable, and it does.

  I also edged and backed Megan’s baby Eden’s quilt with it here

 although I’ve just realised that you can’t actually see the binding and the back in this picture!! I also lined Phoebe’s coat with it here;

I’ve also made cushion covers amongst other myriad little things;

Now, not before time, I’m making Megan a shirt. Not a blouse masquerading as a shirt like mine above, but a shirt shirt. I bought Kwik Sew 3555 view A,  and with a just a few small adjustments such as a proper sleeve placket and not just a pseudo facing on the sleeve cuff and a neat little inverted pleated on the back where it meets the back yoke to look more ‘shirtish’ , I followed the pattern. I  have the collar stand and collar to put on, sleeves [all completed with cuffs and buttonholes] to sew in,  buttonholes to the front and final finishing to do. I should finish today.

I am quite pleased with it so far and one day perhaps I will find a pattern that I want to follow completely, but then again  that is part of the benefits of sewing, you can add or take away or adapt a pattern to whatever you want it to be. The pattern is a nice easy make and I have plans to make it up again [with my adaptations] in several more fabrics. The light here in this part of England [Hampshire] is atrocious at the moment. I am hoping it will improve as the day goes by and I might be able to take some photographs of the actual shirt completed.  I suppose being surrounded by trees doesn’t help…what little sunlight there is around can’t get through the rain and the trees!! But I love them so they make up for everything else. Back soon [ that always reminds me of Winnie the Pooh!]