Alternate title: This Was Supposed To Be Landon’s Christmas Present for 2011.
This has actually been completed for a couple of weeks now – the actual sewing of the shirt came together rather quickly (it helps when you don’t have to futz with the fit during construction!), then it hung for a week or so while we debated buttons. Landon originally wanted pearl snaps – and I was originally excited because I love any sewing that involves using a hammer – but then he decided that they actually hated them… and every other button I offered. Picky guy! Then we were faced with the Darkness Dilemma (I do get up early to take my pictures in the AM, but Landon actually leaves for work far earlier than I do – not happening!). So the shirt waited to be photographed.
I ended up taking these pictures at the first available opportunity – which happened to be on Thanksgiving, at my grandparent’s house in Somerset, Kentucky. Such a pretty backdrop, although a bit bright. Oh, and I guess I should mention that while this shirt waited to be photographed, it did NOT wait to be worn – it’s been worn a lot, and washed twice! Plus, we drove 3 hours that morning. So please pardon the wrinkles 🙂
This version is essentially the same as the first Negroni, and other than the original laundry list of changes, I made no other alterations.
The fabric I used is a lovely flannel from my local fabric store. It’s super soft and super warm. It also super likes to shrink, apparently. I prewashed it twice, but I guess that wasn’t enough – the sleeves still got shorter after the third wash. BOO.
Cutting that buffalo plaid out was a BITCH. My usual workaround is to cut as much as I can on the bias, but I barely bought enough shirt fabric to make this, so it all ended up on the straight grain. I was feeling super nitpicky about the checks matching up (you should hear me when I’ve had a few drinks & I’m surveying the plaid shirts at the bar. Lots of plaid shirts, very little matching up. Drives me fucking crazy!), but it all came out perfect in the end. Well worth the effort!
I mean, look at those matched checks!
LOOK AT THEM.
I did cut the pockets on the bias. I guess I could have matched the flaps up better, oops.
The unfortunate thing about this materials is that it does tend to wrinkle pretty easily. But, hey, check out the winning buttons – we cut them off an old shirt that was destined for the trash can. Yeah!
I do love me a beautiful sleeve placket.
And, of course, the rolled-up sleeve test.
If you are wondering why there are a bunch of rocks scattered all over the grass here, that’s because I tried to clone out this giant shadow and accidentally added some rocks. I never claimed to be a master at photoshop, guys.
Overall, I think we have a winner! Landon has already worn this several times and it’s gotten lots of compliments (and a lot of people who think I’m fucking with them when I mention I made it. lolwut.). I keep catching him eyeballing my stash, like he’s trying to figure out his next shirt. Ha! I’m thinking the next one will actually have a collar stand and button placket – gotta step it up, keep things interesting! Also, no more handmade gifts from me. Clearly I can’t be bothered to finish them on time :B
Sorry, one more picture. He’s such a babe!
And here’s a terrible picture of the two of us. D’AWWW!!
LLADYBIRD 
You are both babes, no doubt about it! Great shirt! Hope my husband never sees this post!
Love it, and nice work. And dammit you two are ridiculously adorable. KEEP IT UP.
OMG, how on earth did you match it all up so perfectly! I love the colour of the fabric too and it literally fits Landon to perfection! I started a Negroni for my boyfriend for last Xmas too and I never finished it…sssshhhh, don’t tell him! He might get it in a few years time if I revisit it ;o) P.S. You two make the cutest couple!
It’s a great shirt! I’m summing up courage to make a shirt for Husband and I’m scared! Not of the sewing but getting him to cooperate with fitting lol!
Landon never wanted to cooperate with the fitting! I ended up measuring the pattern against his favorite button-up and transferring the sizing that way. The resulting muslin ended up fitting perfectly 🙂
Thanks for the tip! Stealing his shirt I can do!
LOVE it!!! You did so good matching everything up, I wish you could teach me your ways haha 🙂
Come ovah to Nashville, I will take you under my wing & teach you everything I know 😉 Haha!
I wish!!!! Actually, someday we may visit. My aunt lives a few hours from you and we know a few people that recently moved out there!
If you come out here to visit me I will totally shit my pants with joy. REAL TALK. 🙂
Aside from your un-surprisingly marvelous Negroni, I feel like I’ve forgoten what men look like without beards lol. My man is an idiot and decided to participate in No Shave November. He swears it’s for cancer awareness, and I swear beards are disgusting. I’m so glad it’s almost December!! p.s. you two are adorable!
Oh god, I’m so glad Landon doesn’t grow much facial hair. I’m afraid I’m not much of a beard girl!
Yup. He is awfully cute. I like the shirt, too.
Shirt is great, well done on the matching. I’m pretty lucky (or unlucky) that I don’t have to make shirts for my partner, as the only thing he well wear is black tee shirts and it’s just not worth it. You know, you look gorgeous too! That sweater is fantastic on you.
Nice shirt! I have some plans for checks and for man’s shirt too!%))
Now that is some uber-matching! Not just the lines, but the sequence of the different coloured squares… V well done, lady!
Haha, I do the same when I’ve had a few drinks (or even if I haven’t) and start picking apart all the flaws in people’s clothing. My man also sews (I KNOW!) and does the same – but worse, because his attention to detail is better than mine.
Your gorgeous stripe-matching is what makes me afraid of stripes. Looks amazing – and the guy doesn’t look so bad either 😉
Ahh, jealous! I wish my dude sewed! Well… maybe not, I don’t like the idea of sharing my sewing room 😛 But that is pretty good! I’ve definitely got him noticing that stuff too, we snerk about it whenever we’re out hahaha
Matching up plaid and stripes isn’t too hard! The cutting is very time-consuming, but once you get past that it all sews up pretty fast.
Nice shirt and pics too. My JJ is slender too and likes a close’ish fitting shirt which is almost impossible to get here, most shirts being pretty much tents on him and therefore far from flattering. Anyway, I’m thinking Negroni might be a good pattern for him now.
I am a big fan of the Negroni! You may have to tweak the side seams a bit to get a nice close fit, but it’s overall a good pattern. The instructions alone are worth the price, in my opinion.
Gorgeous! And the shirt’s nice too. 😉
Seriously, lovely job. I love that plaid.
Before you even mentioned the matching I was drooling over your perfection with it! You two make a great couple!! I also wanted to tell you that your blog has inspired me to start sewing again after a way too long hiatus, so thank you very much!! xo
awesome work on all that matching. i know it’s such a hassle! i too inspect the plaid/stripe matching when i’m out and about… drives me bonkers to see things so horribly lined up! you two are stinkin’ adorable.
So glad I’m not the only one who isn’t very good at getting gifts finished in time. I just found a mostly finished shirt a couple of days ago from hubby’s birthday last year (still in the box that I “gifted” it to him in. 😳
Anyway, your shirt is gorgeous, the plaid matching is freaking amazing, and you guys are so cute together! 🙂
Awesome shirt, great photos of you and Landon!
This shirt turned out great! I almost bought this same fabric a year or two ago at Textile. I have yet to try making any plaid shirts, and currently have three pieces of plaid shirting in my stash that I’m scared to touch. Awesome job lining everything up! The fit looks spot on.
Plaid’s not too hard! The cutting is definitely a pain in the ass, but it’s more that it just takes a long time (as opposed to actually being difficult). The flip side is, once you get everything cut out properly, it sews up pretty fast!
And yes, you should dig into those plaids because I would LOVE to see one of your awesome shirts sewn up in a plaid!
Don’t get me started on boys in bars with their mismatched plaid yokes. I was starting to feel like I was doing something wrong as the seamstress, like is the yoke SUPPOSED to be askew?! I think we win in the end, though. Great shirt! And nice weather you had for Thanksgiving. I miss Kentucky 🙂
Yeah, I was beginning to wonder that myself. Staring at side seams drives me crazy – some of the lines are less than an inch off. Like, arghhh would it kill you to shift those pattern pieces down a smidge?! But we all know those clothing manufacturers are all about the bottom line & using as little fabric as possible.
What’s with the pearl snap hate, Lando?! I’m sticking some on a shirt for me right now. Actually, it’s kinda NOT fun using a hammer in sewing. I’ve smooshed at least one male snap end so one pocket won’t snap closed. My husband convinced me to use WalMart snaps (probs so we wouldn’t have to go to the fabric store) and they now all have cracks in the “pearl” part. It was just my test run of this one pattern, so not a biggie, but still.
Also, the pattern I was test running was a Kwik Sew women’s western shirt, Kwik Sew 3799. I like it and I’m sure it’s going to become a TNT for me, so maybe the men’s one is good too (if Kwik Sew has a men’s western shirt).
Hahah well, he usually loves pearl snaps and was initially excited about them being on this shirt. He just didn’t like the way they looked with that particular fabric 🙂 But he has a lot of pearl snap shirts.
I have a pattern for a western shirt! I need to get on that; the only thing keeping me from starting it is I have no idea what fabric combo to use!
It looks awesome honey!
Nice work on the shirt! I really should make one and stop all the selfish sewing, but what if he likes them and I have to make LOTS of them?
You do KNOW you’re going out with a cowboy from Brokeback Mountain, don’t you? I mean, not the gay thing, obviously, but definitely the gorgeous thing. My god, woman! (Nice shirt, by the way.)
Great shirt! I’m planning on making my boyfriend a shirt for christmas, well getting the pattern and letting him choose the fabric. I’ve been debating over which pattern to choose as I wasn’t sure about the lack of collar stand on the Negroni but I think seeing this may have changed my mind back! Negroni here I come!
P.S. I love that he was eyeing up your fabric stash, hilarious!
P.P.S Great skirt! If you made it (which I’m guessing you did!) what pattern did you use because I think I may also need to make one of those!
The Negroni is great, but fair warning about the collar stand – if your dude likes his collar to, uh, stand a little (and not lay completely flat), you will want to sew the shirt up in a fabric with a bit of body. My first version of this shirt was sewn with a very lightweight voile, and he doesn’t like the way the collar lays. The flannel of this shirt gives the collar nice body. Just an FYI!
And I did make my skirt! It’s a self-drafted circle skirt – I followed Casey’s circle skirt sew along to make it 🙂
first the fetching freebie dress, now this. i’ve been hating you for days now. DAYS.
Total babe! And so is the shirt!! You just got my wheels turning for Nick’s Christmas present… I promised him jeans, but how good would it be if I threw in a flannel just for kicks? Pfft… who am I kidding… I DO NOT have enough time to crank out jeans AND a shirt for that man!! Oh well… looks like I’m losing the best wife award….AGAIN!
Beautiful placket, and beautiful plaid matching, dude!
You two are so stinking cute. 🙂 The shirt looks awesome! Soo nice in flannel too, I bet. I’m so impressed at all the matching up of the checks, I can’t even wrap my brain around that. lol
Ahh, so cute! I love that he’s eyeing your stash, trying to figure out his next gift.
The shirt looks great, but it’s the photoshopped rocks that really tickle my fancy. Honestly, since I can’t sew, your commentary on your photoshop skills might be my favorite thing about lladybird. TOO FUNNY.
I can’t let my boyfriend see this. he will immediately realize how lazy and untalented his lady is. 🙂
This looks absolutely adorable! And how hunky is that guy?! 🙂 I HAVE to make something for my dude this Christmas. But I just. can’t. make. myself. I’m terrible! All I’ve made for him is a pair of novelty pajama pants (which I’ve never seen him wear… sigh…)!
Mad props on the plaid matching and general pro look/awesomeness of this!
It looks great! And you guys couldn’t be any more adorable!
oooooo! I love this! girl i wish my man wore collared shirts!
Great shirt! Gotta love blue plaid on men. And, you look so cute in your circle skirt and sweater. Makes me want more circle skirts…
so cute! i want to make a simple polo shirt for my partner but havent found the right fabric yet. hope to make a negroni in the new year for him too! will have to check out ur fitting process as i have not sewn for anyone else but me yet! 😛
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You two are such a cute couple! Oh, and nice job on the shirt. Looks great on him.
This was a successful project. I have made one of these, but I am yet to completely finish it. I like the pockets:)
The shirt looks great! I love the colors. It has a great fit, and those sleeve packets are lovely. Seeing this makes me want to finally make my husband a shirt. I’ve had the Negroni pattern for months now, and I still haven’t made his shirt. I make excuses, like “I haven’t found the right fabric,” but basically I’m just too busy sewing things for myself to be bothered. I envy your unselfishness. 🙂
LOVE that photo of the two of you. I’m about to make Rob his first Negroni that was a birthday present two years ago – whoops! He may or may not be getting it for Christmas – we shall see. Love that you made this out of buffalo check plaid – definitely my favorite plaid ever. Am I loser for saying I have a favorite plaid? Oy. I need to get out more.
you two look so cute together! great job on the shirt, i think the biggest compliment is that he really wears it often. 🙂
You guys are so cute in the last picture. I’m still in love with your red sweater btw. Want to knit me one too? hehe
Back to the subject of your post, I love this plaid shirt for Landon. I wish Felix would let me make him clothes, but I don’t think he trusts me. One day….