Mens Negroni Shirt

My first sewing project for men!

(or I guess my man)

A long sleeve button up shirt for my husband.

There is such a shortage of sewing ideas/ patterns for men.  Boys too, but in the sewing pattern catalogs, there's usually less than five options for men, and  most of the time a few are unisex fleece vests or something.  So it was exciting for me to finally sew something for my husband.

A few months ago I was shocked to find I actually won a giveaway from Colette Patterns on their blog.

I won the Negroni pattern for a modern cut men's shirt.  I was thrilled.

Their patterns come in a printed booklet format with an envelope pocket on the back cover to hold the pattern pieces.  It's the fanciest pattern I've ever used.

The steps were clear and simple to follow.

I've been saving this charcoal yarn dyed shirting fabric for a while, I bought it last fall on clearance for $2/yd and finally made his shirt.  

The biggest new technique for me was sewing on the button placket for the wrists of the shirt, then adding the cuffs.

Their website also has additional pocket patterns to add variety to the pattern.

 I had a lot of fun making this shirt for my husband, and the finished garment means a lot more to me than other things I've sewn for my kids.  Maybe because I never really sew for him, it meant a lot and it was a lot more challenging project than baby leggings or something.  I think when you make things for people you love, the created objects can kind of symbolize your love for them.  I guess that's how I feel about this shirt. I's not perfect, but I don't ever see it going to goodwill or anything.  I don't know if you have a hard time getting rid of clothing you make for your family, but it's the same with things for my kids.

Quite often in comments or conversations people will ask if my husband just loves me for making so much, or I think especially that I tackle building furniture/ power tools.

I always laugh and think "sort of".  

Rhett really supports my creative habits.

He's not one who really cares much or gets excited about my latest scheme, like helping me go over fabric swatches or giving an opinion on which color buttons I should use or anything. 

He's not the slightest interested in all the crap I make most of the time.

But he does appreciate a lot of the DIY projects that improve our home like painting the kitchen cabinets or save us money like reupholstering the chairs or building all our patio furniture.

He lets me know he appreciates a lot of my projects.

But there's a downside to having me as a wife...well many, but the ones that are project related  are really annoying I'm sure

Like his tool box.

Since my dive into the furniture making, I've overtaken his tools and use them 90% of the time, and I'm not as organized as he is.  So the occasion he does need a tool, most of the time I didn't put it back where it "should" be.  Most of the time I can tell him where it is, but you can imagine how annoying it would be for a chick to mess with your tools if you're a man.

There's also the aspect of living life amid 10+ projects in progress.

Like the fact neither car could park in our garage this summer when I was building all the patio furniture...for a few months.

Or the fact his winter coat/ parka has white oil based primer smeared on the front that won't come out from when I was priming a dresser in the garage in the freezing weather last winter and wasn't that careful obviously.

Or here's a picture of him eating dinner literally between Jack's legs last month.

I would have moved Jack, but Rhett just squeezed his plate in between the chaos to eat and said it was fine.

So there's aspects of having a wife that insists on making as much as she can that must be annoying at times, but Rhett just lets me go to town building/ crafting/ sewing and never complains or really even seems irritated.

I'm so grateful for his support in letting me attempt to make/ sew whatever I think I want to try.

He's patient with the messes that are created in the process and appreciates the results.

I never really have recognized his sacrifices and support to allow me to create whatever I want, which I'm so grateful for.

He just lets me fly.

{this is my favorite photo of Rhett--taken shortly after he became a dad}