Look It Up Later

The two-piece sleeve again. Such nice colors.

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:51:06 -0500

The two-piece sleeve again. Such nice colors.

Inside-out back side.

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:59 -0500

Inside-out back side.

Close up of the back face of the fabric — still nice and...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:55 -0500

Close up of the back face of the fabric — still nice and fuzzy.

This is kind of a money shot: the shirt turned inside out....

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:49 -0500

This is kind of a money shot: the shirt turned inside out. Double woven fabric is made of two separate, parallel cloths woven on one loom simultaneously. The two fabrics can be made to intersect, which joins them together into one cloth. At the intersections, the two fabrics “trade” colors, so one face looks like the inverse of the other.

Many blankets are double woven, because it makes sense for a blanket to be thick and heavy. It’s a lot less common to see double woven apparel fabric. When you do, it’s usually gauzy and light, which mitigates some of the challenges of sewing double woven fabric.

Long story short, this shirt is pretty special.

Nice two-piece sleeve construction. A lot of sleeves are just...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:43 -0500

Nice two-piece sleeve construction. A lot of sleeves are just one piece of fabric sewn in a tube. I like that the pattern doesn’t match here.

Here’s the cuff. The front face of the fabric has almost worn...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:35 -0500

Here’s the cuff. The front face of the fabric has almost worn through to the back face. Since it’s a double woven fabric, when one face wears through you see the backside of the other face.

The bottom hem had to be marrowed, not double folded, again...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:31 -0500

The bottom hem had to be marrowed, not double folded, again because of the thickness of the cloth. Also, sneak preview: the back face is different from the front face.

Damaged and not repaired. There’s no tear here; the seam...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:26 -0500

Damaged and not repaired. There’s no tear here; the seam just slipped because the fabric is so thick.

On the underside of the collar, the cloth still has some of the...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:21 -0500

On the underside of the collar, the cloth still has some of the nap that it was named for. You can see how the thick, heavy, fuzzy fabric is similar to suede deerskin.

The dark green melamine buttons are very well-matched to the...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:50:15 -0500

The dark green melamine buttons are very well-matched to the colors of the shirt. In this photo you can almost see the intricacy of the weave, but again it’s more than my iPad can handle.

The back of the shirt. The uninterrupted pattern is really...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:49:24 -0500

The back of the shirt. The uninterrupted pattern is really striking.

This is the shirt with the “doeskin” label. The brand name...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 19:20:00 -0500

This is the shirt with the “doeskin” label. The brand name surely refers to the quality of the fabric, which is a thick double-woven flannel with an interesting check pattern. Later I’ll post the La Porte Motor Weave blanket, which is woven in the same style. It’s not a common pattern at all, probably because it’s difficult and expensive to weave. Anyways more on that later. Check out the pattern-matching on the pockets and placket. Nice right?

Of dubious interest #2: where the collar has worn through, you...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:25:46 -0500

Of dubious interest #2: where the collar has worn through, you can see the plain cotton interfacing inside.

Inside-out back of the shirt, hopefully showing the color of the...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:24:43 -0500

Inside-out back of the shirt, hopefully showing the color of the fabric better. (Not successful, I think.)

Inside view of the chain stitch driving straight off the edge of...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:22:13 -0500

Inside view of the chain stitch driving straight off the edge of the shirt.

Totally perfect stitching inside the shoulder and around the...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:20:02 -0500

Totally perfect stitching inside the shoulder and around the “armscye,” or arm hole seam. That is a technical sewing term which, according to Wikipedia, started out as “arm’s eye” but was misread and turned into “armscye,” which sounds like the name of a trusty blade in a fantasy novel.

Of dubious interest: here’s the shirt inside out. The back...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:10:53 -0500

Of dubious interest: here’s the shirt inside out. The back of the cloth has a vibrant turquoise tone, but trying to show that with my iPad camera was asking too much. However in this photo you can see that the fabric faded less behind the pockets. Kind of cool.

Here’s the side gusset. On triple needle shirts I love how...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:05:16 -0500

Here’s the side gusset. On triple needle shirts I love how unresolved the chain stitching is at the bottom hem. It just drives straight off the shirt…

Immaculate triple needle chain stitching. And you can see the...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:03:40 -0500

Immaculate triple needle chain stitching. And you can see the “head room” I mentioned before.

I didn’t get a good picture of it but the cuff plackets are one-piece construction. Not especially rare, but it’s fun to imagine how the sewer would execute that properly… It would require strong spatial reasoning!

Damage and repair on the left cuff, too. Much better execution.

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:58:59 -0500

Damage and repair on the left cuff, too. Much better execution.