Falling in Love with Fabric (then finding the right shirt design)

When you start a sewing project, which comes first: the design (the pattern) or the fabric? For most of my years since I learned to sew decades ago, I began with the design. There were so many reasons for this.

First, in the early years, I sewed so that I could have a wider variety of clothes. If I needed (or wanted) new pants or a formal gown even, I had to begin there, finding the right design. Then, I looked for fabric based on what was appropriate for the design. My next reason was that patterns had recommended fabrics listed on them so that would make finding something easier, n’est ce pas? Well, that only worked for me because, years ago, I didn’t know nearly as much about fabrics as I do now.

I’ve taken it upon myself over the years to learn as much as I can about types of fabrics, their fibre content, how they’re made, how they behave and what their applications might be. Once I knew this, if I fell in love with a particular fabric, I’d know just what kind of design it would suit. As I learned, though, I did make a few mistakes along the way.

My favourite reference book for fabrics.

More than once, I found myself working with a piece of fabric (sometimes fighting with it, if you must know) and ending up with a garment that was, at best, meh. At worst, god-awful and thus unwearable. So, every time I find a fabric I like, I am very cautious about finding the right design.

A few months ago, when I was buying shirt buttons in my local Fabricland (Canada’s big-box fabric retailer that can usually be found in suburban strip malls, but this one is oddly enough smack in the middle of Toronto’s mink mile, nowhere near the fabric district but in my neighbourhood), I stumbled on some fabric that drew me to it. I don’t buy a lot of fabric there because they are a bit too heavy on the polyester, which isn’t one of my favourite fabrics to wear, but I do buy notions. Anyway, I was buying interfacing when I was mesmerized by this fabric.

I was delighted to find that rather than polyester, it was rayon. And rather than being a smooth weave rayon (which I’d used disastrously in the past), it was a twill weave. I think that twill weave rayon has a wonderful hand and drape and is much more comfortable to wear than polyester, for example. So, naturally, I bought a couple of metres. But then, what to do with it? And I find myself in the dilemma I usually try to avoid.

Throughout the fall, I made shirts—men’s shirts. First, I made a new one for my husband, and then I made shirts for my sons for Christmas.

My husband at Christmas wearing his GG Shirt The boys with their new shirts at Christmas My husband’s shirt

You would think I’d be sick of making shirts, but I trotted out an old Burda pattern I’d found in the discard bin at Fabricland (another reason to shop there from time to time). For two dollars, I had acquired Burda 6908 with no plans for doing anything with it. It seemed like a match made in heaven for this fabric I’d fallen in love with—with its gold astrological figure on its blue background.

I chose View A—a tunicy thing with a back pleat. Now, it seems like a straightforward women’s shirt. But here’s the thing: I hated the length—far too long and far too much fabric to contend with while wearing—and I did not appreciate double on-boob pockets.

Then, as I looked more closely, I also realized I hated the cuff vents with their lazy little turned edges. So (*rolls eyes*) I had to haul out my GG Collection bespoke pattern that I made for myself a few years ago and redraw a few things on the Burda pattern, including drafting a cuff vent pattern.

My cuff placket design for this shirt to upgrade the cuffs.

Then, I went online to Etsy and contacted my favourite button artisan, Michèle, and asked her if she might be able to create custom buttons for me. The ones she did for me turned out to be spectacular, and I highly recommend Michèle. She designs and makes the buttons and operates BoutonsdAuj.

Aren’t the buttons just perfect?? And just pop the collar…

Once I had shortened the pattern to a more manageable length and created the pattern for the sleeve, working with the fabric was easy. I finally finished my first project for 2025. Yay!

I have no idea what I’ll be making next. First, I have a few weeks under a palm tree in the Caribbean to look forward to. There will be no sewing during that sojourn! I might take one or two pieces I made for myself last summer. Stay tuned!