A New Version of the Sheer Button Down Shirt

The Sheer Button Down Shirt I made more than a year ago continues to be one of the most popular (and worn!) things I've sewn here, but alas all plastic-y stash fabric busters must come to an end.

In the Fall of 2012 I got a lot of wear out of this shirt (one of my favorite pairings was wearing it under a navy sweater--who knew pale pink and navy would look so cute together?), but one day, as I went to put it on, I noticed something awful...this cheap, mystery stash fabric, which had given me so much trouble when I was sewing it because of how slippery and prone to fraying it was, had begun to fray through the seam!!

And once I noticed this large spot of miserable fraying at the should seam, I found two more spots--where the neckband of the collar met the front of the shirt, and inside where the yoke met the neckband (this was the biggest one).

The offensive fabric of the yoke unraveling. And please, please ignore the sweat stains.

Under the neckband.

Come on!! Both pieces of fabric are fraying--curse you synthetic material monster!

Good thing the shirt was made of such God-awful, fussy, filmy fabric, so I didn't feel too sad for too long. The shirt sat at the bottom of my closet in a pile of UFO's until a few weeks ago, when at the local Wal-Mart my mother found the most lovely pale pink, perfectly drapey fabric--for only $1 a yard! Naturally, I bought the whole bolt of 8 yards. Sadly, this beautiful find also falls into the mystery material category--the bolt classifies it as (get this) "Remnants of Undetermined Fiber Content, Hand Wash Cold"...gee, thanks! I think it might be viscose...At least it's legions nicer than the first pink mystery fabric.

Look at that soft, drapey $1 a yard goodness! Thank you, fabric gods!

What I'm working on now is deconstructing the first shirt and using it as my pattern for this newer, better version. This time, I will be eliminating the pleats at the front--I just don't think this fabric has enough body to handle it. I might also make the button placket a smidgen narrower. Stay tuned!