I wanted a dress shirt. I needed a dress shirt. Shirts are expensive. Shirts need to fit well. I took on a challenge. I bit more than I could chew.
The draft
Honestly, it is not my first shirt . There was one before. It was drafted according to the Rudschau system (M. Mueller). It was okay. I was not very happy with the fit, and it was not very comfortable to wear, because I drafted the sleeve too narrow.
This time around I started from scratch. Again I employed the Rundschau drafting system and followed it to the T. I was careful not to make the sleeve too narrow. The result was far from perfection. See exhibit A.
I drafted the shoulders slope too square (diagonal folds from the chest down). I found the shoulder width too wide. There was a lot of ease in the sleeve. The sleeves were too long. The collar too small.
Completion of the 2-year project
I made the changes. Re-cut the fabric (a linen from Fabricville), started to put it all together and… it ended up in the unfinished pile for almost 2 years. This summer I pulled it out. Finished it. It felt good to complete something.
The result is that again, it is not perfection. I added to the collar, but it is still too tight on the neck. I aggressively narrowed the shoulders – the proportions and the fit are still off. There is probably not enough ease in the sleeve, so there is pulling in the front of the armpit – the shirt is not so comfortable again.
I am still on my learning curve.