So obviously the shirt wasn't done in time for Andy's birthday, but it was at least finished before July ended:
except that I managed to miscount buttonholes and needed NINE instead of eight. I'm running to the fabric store in a few minutes to get the extra button. I just bought them a few weeks ago, so I'm sure they'll still be in stock. Or pretty sure. Or hopeful. Maybe praying, really.
Aside from minus one button, I am SO pleased with how this shirt turned out. Besides how great the fabric looks and that the shirt looks nice on Andy, I am positively thrilled to have used up some of my oldest fabric. I was so excited that I dug out more old fabric to make another jacket, but decided a break from collars might be in order,
so this morning I am cutting out placemats for my mother-in-law for Christmas. When we were down there, she said she would love oval placemats, because she has this lovely old table and a large group of friends, and square placemats don't work very well. I found this fabric when we got back and checked to make sure she liked it while they were here visiting, and I'm really excited about these. I'm going to do a quilting pattern with a little leaf motif and large swirls--maybe in different colors. I'm keeping the scraps to test some ideas. I'm thinking a set of 10-12, so I got 5 yards of fabric. I maybe should have gotten more and made matching napkins, but that particular shopping trip might have involved a few other fabrics (none of which have been used yet), so I was trying to show a bit of restraint.....Or what qualifies for it in MY life, at any rate.........