So I finished a shirt!

[camwyn]

Pattern is York, from Seamwork.com. Sleeves were altered to full length because I intend to wear this in a mosquito intensive area- yes, I should have altered the neckline for more cover, I'll just add a silk scarf or something. Fabric is off-white cotton double gauze from Sewing Studio.com, in Oregon. Bias tape was made from Kona Snow cotton by Robert Kaufman; I got it on Etsy. Thread is polyester Gutermann Mara 100 all-purpose Tex 30 thread, color #111, from WAWAK.

The goal here was to make a long sleeved shirt from a light enough fabric that I could wear it outside for birdwatching and minimize successful mosquito attacks. Like I said, I should've altered the pattern neckline, but I didn't think of that. I'll either figure out something to wear under it or put on a very light silk scarf to handle the remaining skin exposure. I lengthened the sleeves, but left the cuffs the same size as usual; a little extra hand cover is not a terrible problem in this situation.

The back has a keyhole opening and ties together with the extra bias tape I used to bind the neckline. The sleeve cuffs were my introduction to the concept of a Hong Kong finish; I assumed, based on the York instructions, that I was supposed to bind all the seam allowance layers together and then press and topstitch that into place.

I will have to wear a more skin-colored undergarment when I wear this out in public. The brighter the light, the more becomes visible through the gauze. I'll deal, if it means less skin exposed to mosquito bites.

Comments

[neotoma]

Wow! That's a really nice shirt!

[derien]

It's quite a nice-looking shirt!

Not to be Debbie Downer, but just so you aren't completely surprised - I've had mosquitoes bite through my jeans, before. Basically anyplace the cloth sits on my skin, without moving, for any length of time, they get me. I am particularly tasty, though, I think. If you go out with me, you may not get bit.

[camwyn]

TBH, after I looked at my right shoulder two days ago and saw that despite being on a bicycle traveling at least nine miles an hour there was a mosquito drilling through my technical-fabric t-shirt (I don't know what fiber or weave it was, it was a gift from my employers), I'm not really expecting much of anything against the local biting bitches. I just hope the chimney swifts and dragonflies get them all.