Present Joys
“We thank the Lord of heaven and earth
who hath preserved us from our birth
for present joys, for blessings past,
and for the hope of heaven at last.”

It’s been two weeks since my last shirtmaking post, mostly because I had some trouble with my patterns which took time to resolve. More on that later. The first shirt here is a seersucker “fun shirt”—something I’ve wanted to make for a while now. I used leftover grey seersucker from the shirt I made a few weeks ago, along with 1.5 yards each of red and green seersucker from Jo-Ann’s. I had no idea how much fabric to buy since I knew I’d be using three different colors instead of just one piece—turns out, I probably could have gone with just 1 yard each. The shirt is a popover, i.e, it’s got a front placket like a polo shirt that’s about 11″ long.

Fit-wise, trying to make a popover was tough enough—I shouldn’t have complicated it by using seersucker, which is notoriously stretchy and difficult to measure. The shirt turned out alright, but the center front. Cutting a popover really showed me that my pattern wasn’t as good as it could be, especially around the neckline. After this realization, I spent almost a whole week just working on a new pattern. I went back to my favorite shirt draft and drew everything out from scratch. You can’t really tell, but I dramatically altered both the neckline shape and the armscye. On my old pattern, the armscye was 21″ around—on my new pattern, it’s only 18″. It takes a little longer to put on my new shirt pattern, but the higher armhole means it fits better and gives me more flexibility. I cut three new shirts from my new, improved pattern.

There’s a short-sleeved shirt in red, white, pink, and cool grey fabric from Sew to Speak. I thought the colors looked very nice for summertime, which is ironic because the fabric itself has scarves on it. Nothing too special; just a better fit!

I also made a long-sleeved shirt out of Kaffe Fassett “shot cotton” from Sew to Speak. The fabric is wild and glorious—it’s as light as a feather, yet perfectly opaque, and it’s brilliantly-colored. I used bright yellow cotton thread to do all the stitching, instead of the typical white, and I think it gives the shirt a little character. The sleeves are gathered into the cuffs, a technique I still really enjoy.

Finally, I made a casual shirt out of grey fabric with foxes on it, again from Sew to Speak. It’s got a straight hem instead of shirt tails, designed to be worn untucked! It’s some of the coolest fabric I’ve ever seen.

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Movie roundup

In my ongoing effort to remember all the movies I watch, here is a list of the things I’ve seen since my last list:

  • The Mystery Man, a b-movie from 1935 starring Robert Armstrong as a newspaperman who ends up broke and in an unfamiliar city. Probably the most absurd film I’ve ever seen. The plot was totally incoherent, but it was short and funny.
  • Dead End, a 1937 film starring a very young Humphrey Bogart as an unsympathetic gangster who returns to his hometown. Spoiler: everyone hates their lives! It was adapted from a stage play, which means this film was boring as well as depressing!
  • The Fallen Idol, a 1948 British film about a murder mystery. Annoying child actor notwithstanding, this was a really great movie. Thrilling and cinematographically attractive.
  • The President’s Mystery, a disappointing 1936 movie about a man (Henry Wilcoxon) who fakes his own death. Wilcoxon was great as the lead, but the movie itself is facepalm-inducing New Deal propaganda.
  • Hidden Fear, a typical 1957 noir with a twist: it’s set in Denmark. This turns out to not really be a twist, since it’s just like any other mid-50s noir. I just can’t get into cheaply-made noir films from the 50s.
  • Les Diaboliques, a classic horror film 1955, in French. Fantastic in every way. Watch it with the lights off.
  • Dark City, a thriller from 1950 starring a very young Charlton Heston (who is really a terrible actor) as a stony con man opposite Lizabeth Scott, his sycophantic female companion. Contains gambling and gratuitous cabaret songs! As far as b-movies go, though, this is the best one in the list. Lots of laughs.
  • Faust, F.W. Murnau’s classic 1926 silent film. Aesthetically beautiful but very long! Emil Jannings, the actor who played Mephisto, was spectacular.
  • Pandora’s Box, a 1929 silent film starring Louise Brooks, who plays an annoying floozy (shocker, huh?!). There are lots of interesting garments to look at, at least.
  • Dinner at Eight, a 1933 pre-code drama about upper-middle-class life during the Depression. Lots of great actors: Lionel and John Barrymore, Edmund Lowe, Billie Burke, Marie Dressler! also, the always-awful Jean Harlow. This was an excellent, excellent film, like a black comedy with less comedy and lots more black. Edmund Lowe is an unrepentant womanizer; Billie Burke is too preoccupied with entertaining guests to notice her husband is dying of heart disease; the always-glamorous John Barrymore commits suicide on-screen. Exactly what a pre-code film should be like.
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