Into The Poet Shirt: Part 1

This is my favorite shirt pattern.

The pattern is from Butterick #5008. It has now been discontinued, unfortunately. You can still pick up the pattern from the website under "out-of-print"

As always we start by cutting out the pieces.

Some of the pieces require an interfacing such as the collar, cuffs, and collar-band. To do this, I like to iron the fabric to a fusible interfacing  and then cut out the pieces. 

I like to get all of the ironing and odd bits done first, starting with the flounce.

To get the perfect narrow hem, I sew a 1/4" stay stitch around the edge. Then iron along the stitch line, unfold and iron the raw edge touching the stitching. Fold over and re-iron. 

Do the same with the sleeve ruffles.

I like to use a ruffler foot to gather the ruffles, but you can use your favorite gathering method. 

That takes care of most of the tedious bits. 

In the next part we'll cover building the cuffs and collar.