Chambray Stitch Wiggle

[Gerry]

To my surprise, I found that I had a load more of this cloth in my stash (must have been on offer). I bought some Aurifil 80 wt cotton thread and made this shirt with it:

https://flic.kr/p/2p1BAuf

The Aurifil comes on wooden spools, which is pretty cool. Although it's very fine, the thread is strong enough for machine stitching, especially given the higher stitch density typically found in shirting. And it produced a nice straight stitch with this problematic cloth:

https://flic.kr/p/2p1H5xR

https://flic.kr/p/2p1GPm5

However, it's nearly three times the cost of normal thread. I'm a convert, though. It produces a very elegant stitch no-matter what the shirting cloth.

PS does anyone know how to embed Flickr photos. 'Insert an image' doesn't work, nor the embed links given on Flickr.

[Greger]

Gerry, it looks like the armholes are rather deep. Otherwise, it looks like a very nice shirt.

[Gerry]

Gerry, it looks like the armholes are rather deep. Otherwise, it looks like a very nice shirt.

They are slightly deep, but not ready-to-wear deep!  Things looks worse than they are - it's just the photo.

As a back-of-my-mind-guide, I used the standard, shirt-maker's estimate of a third of scale/sixth of chest for armhole depth. Which gives me an armhole 1.75 inches below my actual armscye/armpit measurement. In reality, I came to this depth by empirical testing (fittings), using the estimate as the max I would go for depth. I have muscular pecs and I found that anything higher felt restrictive/uncomfortable.

If I were better at cutting sleeves (my nemesis!), I could probably go a little higher. Experience will make me better. 

[Gerry]

I'm just off out the door, so took a snap of my latest shirt 'in action'. Hopefully you can see from this snap that the armhole isn't too low, though the shirt isn't shown in the best light (such is the selfie).

https://flic.kr/p/2p2GR5w