Vintage western shirt #2… the flowery kind

Flowery vintage western shirtAs promised, here is the finished shirt. It is a revisit to the same shirt I made for Mr Ooobop! almost a year ago. On first inspection I thought it must be 70s, given the flappy collars and slim fit. But one reader clocked the hairstyles on the pattern envelope and said it was probably more 1980s. Either way, its another vintage make that has been a valuable learning curve and keeps the old chap happy at the same time… double whammy!

Butterick 5007

I made some brave adjustments to the pattern this time. (Well, brave for me, that is!) Namely to the chest, shoulders and sleeve length. Of course there is a knock on effect for each change, given the many different pieces to this pattern, so I had to keep on my toes!

I have said it before, and I am very conscious of blowing Mr. Ooobop’s trumpet, but he is very good at knowing what fabric suits and especially good at choosing buttons. Check these out…

yellow buttons with black outline

They are little chunky white buttons with a yellow fill and a black outline. They are indeed a trifle camouflaged here but I can’t imagine any other button being better on this shirt. I have mastered buttonholes, which is a good thing seeing as there were 13 of the damned things to make, but I did get a bit over confident and had to unpick two of them because they weren’t perfectly centred in the placket. I really don’t want to be doing that on a regular basis. Took as much time to unpick 2 buttonholes as it did to sew 13 of them AND hand sew on all of the buttons!

I couldn’t resist adding a couple of new features to this one. I underlined the collar, the collar stand and the under flaps of the pockets in a plain red cotton…

collar cuffs and pockets with red contrast lining… and I added some bias trim to the curved shirt hem. Mostly because Mr. Ooobop! wanted to preserve the length. It was an obvious solution but I think it makes for a lovely finish too, highlighting the shirt-tails!

bound hem

I am really happy with the fit on this one.

vintage western shirt back

Mr Oobop! got a fair few comments when he turned up at his last gig.

Mr Ooobop playing double bass

The finishing on this shirt – all the topstitching and flat felled seams –  was the time consuming bit. but imagine how long it took me to match that rose on the shoulder?! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge 😉 )

matching up the pattern on the shoulderSpecial thanks to George, Tom and Cat of The Redfords for the fabulous photography.

48 Replies to “Vintage western shirt #2… the flowery kind”

  1. OH!! I love it so much! And you two are just so wonderful, why the heck aren’t you getting married eh? It would be such a cool wedding! I’d even fly out if you invited me (heehee)..on which thought, don’t make it toooo soon, I’ll have to save up! ROFL!

  2. Amazing work! I can’t believe you matched that rose on the shoulder – very impressive lady! Shirt looks wonderful on your man. 🙂

  3. That’s awesome! I especially love the little alterations, like the trim at the hem and the red cotton underlining!

  4. Holy cow!!! This is AMAZING!! Looks like it was worth the wait for those perfect buttons! Mr. Oobop certainly has an impeccable sense of style, and he sure is a lucky fella to have you! He looks totally awesome – great job on the shirt; it looks like something those musician types would pay a LOT of money for to get that rocker look ‘just right’ 😉

    1. You say the sweetest things! Funnily enough I have had a few requests since from ‘musician types’ but I’m not so sure they appreciate how long it takes!

  5. You are AMAZING. Have I said that before? I think yes, but your attention to detail astounds me. Like, ridiculous. I wish I had junk a sprinkle of your talent. Tell me, when you sleep, do you snore music and great clouds of rainbow glitter emerge? I swear, you are an inspiration!!

    1. You are too kind Mrsdeboots. Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments. I’m not sure its possible that I sleep very much at all actually…. I’m either up and sewing or lying in bed dreaming of what I am going to sew next!

  6. Great shirt, great fabric. It is so cute. You do such nice work.
    Copyright dates are often found on the back of pattern envelopes or on the instruction sheets if they are still with the pattern. This is not always true but it has helped me date patterns. Hope it helps you.

    1. Thank you so much Joellyn. Couldn’t find one on this pattern or many of the others but I’m thinking it’s more 80s than 70s judging by the hairstyles! The 70s collar might just be a hangover from those aeroplane collar days!

  7. What a fabulous make!! So impressed by all the attention to detail here – I would’ve been pulling my hair out at the prospect of all those button holes and then having to unpick 2, aaarrrggg! So so worth it though. Amazing shirt.

  8. Beeeeeeeeeeeeautiful work, as usual. Your top stitching looks fabulous and I love the binding on the bottom. He looks super happy and he should be to have a talented woman like yourself as a partner! 🙂

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