Addicted to this Pattern!!

So, I am making yet ANOTHER version of the BWOF 05-2009-110. I don't know why I am having trouble moving on to another pattern, but hey...it's not like I don't need shirts!

I picked up a piece of poly chiffon off of the sale table at Hancock's (95 cents a yard, so if I eff it up, it doesn't even matter!). It looked really cute, with it's border print and bright pink. I had never really worked with chiffon before so I figured I'd get this, if I find out that it's too difficult to work with, then no great loss if I throw it in the trash!

I started out by changing the back of the shirt to have darts rather than the long pleats starting at the neckline:


The way that I did this was that I folded the pleat out of my pattern piece, and traced around the neckline, armscye, and the hem, not tracing the side seam. I then laid the back pattern piece from McCall 5138 under the tracing material, aligning the center back, shoulder, and bottom of the armscye. I then used this pattern piece to trace the contour of the side seam, and the placement of the back darts.

For the front pieces and the sleeves, I had to align the pattern pieces so the pink border was falling in the appropriate spot on each piece so that it would align:


I also decided that since the selvage was very clean and neat, that instead of hemming the shirt, I would just used the selvage as the hem.

The original shirt has lots and lots of topstitching on it, but I think it may be distracting on this fabric with so many different colors. Whether I use white thread, black, or pink...somewhere it is going to stand out. So, I am considering not topstitching on this one.

I may have to think on this some more...I am sure that I will have plenty of time to think while I do all the handsewing on the front band!

I've also been sewing on my new baby, my Singer 503:


I love this little machine! Not as much as my 401, mind you, but it really is a fantastic machine.