Last year for Christmas, I secretly knit Mr. Cleaver a sweater. This year, I secretly sewed him a shirt.
Secret sewing is much more difficult than secret knitting, especially when your sewing machine lives in your bedroom! But I squeezed the project in on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when Mr. Cleaver left for work early (except for one when we lost power!). I did kick him out of the house for an hour and a half on the 22nd or 23rd so I could do the buttons and buttonholes, and I thought for sure he was onto me.
But Christmas morning came and he opened his shirt and I had to tell him I made it, even though I stitched something inside one of the cuffs, which I guess is a good thing. I did work really hard to make it the shirt as professional as possible, including doing flat-felled seams throughout and matching the plaids wherever possible. You could practically wear this thing inside out!
My biggest worry was that it wouldn't fit, even though I kept comparing it to shirts in his closet, but it fit great and he wore it all Christmas day. The fabric is a lovely light-weight wool from the Pendleton wool mills that irons and wears like a dream. My family has a long-history with Pendleton wool button-downs, so I was glad I could bring Mr. Cleaver into the tradition.
Pattern: McCalls' M6044 - View C
Fabric: Pendleton Lightweight Wool from Gorgeous Fabrics
Flat-Felled Seam Tutorial: sewneau.com