Western Wear?!?

My older brother is convinced that I am a master western shirt maker.  Over the past 5 years I have made him 3 or 4 shirts complete with piping and snaps.  This particular shirt was so intimidating that it took me about 8 months to get it completed.  I was paralyzed by the threat of making smiley pockets that were the same size, placed at the same level and with the right curve. 

  My brother lives in another state so my husband modeled the shirt.  (Yes, this shirt was made for a man with shorter arms and a bulkier body than my husband)

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Notice the cuff detail - it was a little challenging

No matter how I fudge and blunder through the making, no matter if the collar is limp and the button placket wavy, my brother remains steadfast in his delusion of me as a world class shirt maker.  It is because of this persistent optimism that I agreed recently to make more shirts.  I guess he wants more than one every other year.

A month or so ago my brother began negotiating with me to make him not just another shirt, but to make him shirts.  I agreed, after all I have a business of doing custom sewing for people, I ought to be able to make him a few shirts.  I When I saw him at Thanksgiving I measured him again, as he had lost a lot of weight in the last year and we looked at fabric.  My brother’s preference for his western shirts is simple; it can be any color as long as it is blue, and any pattern as long as it is solid.  Which may be the real reason he comes to me for help – it is rare that I see any western shirt online or off that is not plaid and the solid colors are rarely blue.  For now I am going to test out the new measurements in a navy cotton poly blend with no piping - just an every day shirt.


As you can see I am using a commercial pattern for his shirt - I design women's clothing not guys.

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