Sewing for a man

When Australia still had a healthy manufacturing base, and there were many clothing factories operating, we could buy decent off-cuts, remnants and sometimes fair lengths of fabrics for stretch sewing - T-shirts, rugby tops, windcheaters, etc. I used to make a lot of stuff for my husband and use the leftover bits to make things for the children.

In recent times, sadly our manufacture has dried up and along with it this rich resource. Imported clothing can be bought so cheaply that it is more expensive to sew a windcheater or pair of track pants now, even if any suitable fabric can be found, so the joy of creating something for a specific person has gone, unless we want to pay extra just to be able to produce an item.

Well, I decided I will still do it a little bit. A recent attempt at a long-sleeved T-shirt came out with reasonable results, but I wasn't really happy with it.

The fabric was the only thing I could find remotely suitable and was not a nice fabric to sew. At least I was able to get a custom length to the garment, which gave it a definite edge over bought tees, which are often too short for a middle-aged man. Add to that the sheer delight it gave him to find I had made him a present, in among all my varied (and fairly girly) sewing projects.

My next project has only just begun. I tried Ebay and was fortunate to find a lady selling several pieces of fabric from her home, not terribly far from where I live. I did have to confess to my husband that I had bought more fabric (when our house is full of it), but I was very restrained and bought only a very small number of items, one of which was the Ebay find from my search: a navy knit fabric, hopefully suitable for a man's casual top.

I have cut out two of the main pieces, have worked out how to create a section to insert a zip and have inserted said zip. Happily, it appears to have worked, and equally happily, the zip came from my collection - I didn't buy a new one.

If I can work out how to put pictures in a blog, I may illustrate this point, but for now, the pictures are more likely to appear on my Facebook page, Kwee. https://www.facebook.com/Kwee-977106825639876/

Off to tackle the next pieces to cut out and contemplate the overlocker, which will require all four of its threads to be changed to a dark colour for sewing navy. This may cause a hiccup in the proceedings.....

P.S. Zip photo added!!