The Ugliest Shirt I've Ever Made

  Here is a picture to remind you all that even when you've had a lot of practice sewing and drafting, things can go quite wrong if you aren't careful. =)

  It doesn't look quite as awful in the photos as in real life, but allow me to list the problems and you'll see what I mean, all right?
  1. I made all of the pleats radiate from central points, instead of using a separate pivot point for each pleat. That means some of the pleats, due to the curved seaming, are almost non-existent, and others are angled oddly.
  2. I drew the curved line too high. The top part of the curve was supposed to start 1" above my bust, and the lowest part 2" below my hipbone.
  3. The middle of the curved line should have been slanted.
  4. I should have made the pleats deeper and more even.
 5. The sleeves are about 3" too long. (Maybe I wrote my measurements down wrong.)
 6. The neckline is a good inch too high all around.
 7. The shoulder seam droops off my shoulder. (This may be due in part to the extremely stretchy knit and lack of shoulder-seam stabilization.)
 8. The sleeves are too tight. If the knit was less stretchy I wouldn't have been able to get them on.
 9. The entire shirt is 3 inches shorter than I'd intended it to be.
10. I was aiming for the back pleating to start at the waist. Somehow, it starts 5 inches lower than that. Not a good look for anyone.
11. I'm not sure about this one, it's hard to tell with the myriad of other sleeve and shoulder issues, but I think the cap of the sleeve is too narrow and too short.

  In addition to the drafting problems, this was a poor choice in fabric selection. It's from Joann's, and in addition to having about double the stretch that I'm used to, it's rather thin and not stable at all. It's mostly polyester, which means that in spite of its thin-ness it's not breathable and is too warm, especially with the long sleeves. I don't love the color either, so I'm going to blame it coming home with me at all on the fact that I was shopping with all three daughters.

  I made some sewing mistakes too... I should have basted all of the pleats down before sewing them, I should have stabilized the shoulders, and I probably should have used tissue with this fabric to keep it from stretching too much as I sewed.

  This shirt is so bad that I didn't even finish the hems or neckline. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, maybe just tie off the serger threads and donate it.

  Have I convinced you yet that this shirt is a failure? Still, there's a very small chance that I will try to draft it again, as I was imagining it... but only if I'm really bored. ;-)

  Oh yes, and for those of you who are related to me and trying to be nice: If you tell me that 'It doesn't look that bad, you should just wear it,' I will disown you. =)

Thanks for stopping by,