Quite a Kluge-Job!

Several months ago, I had in my stash two slivers of cream-colored poly-satin.  If I had to guess, someone made a wedding dress with a gored skirt, and these skinny triangles were the leftovers.  I also had a few scraps of another satin, but this one less shiny, in the same color.  From these, I intended to create a shirt that would match my tulip skirt, and thus be a valuable addition to my wardrobe.  As to the actual result, well... it was educational! 

To start with, I took the old familiar bodice pieces from Simplicity 3631 and eked out just enough of the shiny satin for a shirt.  The center back got a seam, and the center front became the opening.  Here's the pattern layout:

Now, if the front pattern was meant to be cut on the fold, and I cut on the edge, obviously there now wasn't enough to close in the front.  Once I finished the CF edges, the shirt would be too small.  My solution was to add extensions to both edges, to get enough of an overlap for buttons and buttonholes.  I decided to use the corresponding matte fabric and have it show as a vertical strip in the front.  This I did by hand, because I was visiting with a friend at the time: 

Running stitch. I'm right-handed.

Slip-stitching the extension pieces to the front.

Then, from the shreds and remnants, I found enough for some facings for the neck. 

In my button stash, I found ten buttons that almost matched: the Lansing buttons on the right side of the picture match each other, and the others are close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades. 

My next thought was to make a collar that notches in CF and CB, which I did by cutting two sickle -shaped pieces of the matte fabric.  In the picture below, you can see the collar pieces pinned in place, more like mini shoulder capes than a collar.  The picture also shows the contrast CF extensions and the different textures of the two fabrics. 

I pinned the facing onto the collar, right sides together, and sewed them all together in one go.  Then I flipped the facing to the inside, ironed everything, under-stitched the facing to crisp up the edge, and tacked it to the shoulder seams so it wouldn't roll out. 

Finally, I finished the bottom of the shirt with two more matte fabric extensions, echoing the collar in design.  I finished the shirt just in time for Easter and wore it to church with my tulip skirt and a fun vintage hat. 

THE VERDICT?

While I did finish it and it did match my skirt, I don't think this project is a success.  There were several pretty big problems:

• Poly-satin is horrible fabric to work with.  It puckers, looks shiny, shows every miss-stitch...  A costume fabric, but not for real clothes. 
• The buttons are wrong for the thickness of the fabric, so they make puckers, too. 
• The CF extensions, while clever, are not wide enough, so the shirt pulls at the bosom and hips. 
• The notches in the collar and waistband are a cool idea, which I'd like to do again (do better!), but in this shirt they are sloppily executed. 
• Speaking of the collar, the turn is not well done, so it sticks up and moves weirdly.  It does not lie in place like it should.  Bad collar!  Down! 
  

Overall, I think it looks home-made and amateur.  I need a new shirt to wear with my tulip skirt!