Since I came back to Malaysia, I been making quite a lot of garments for my mom lately. I had some leftover fabrics and so much time so I thought why not. But dad has been saying that I’m biased towards my mom and he has nothing new to wear. So I dragged my dad out to go shopping for some fabric and he chose a cream linen to make a shirt.
As I have never made my dad a shirt before, I didn’t have a pattern to hand. In situations like this, there are usually two options; one to draw one from scratch or two, copy the pattern from a ready-made garment. As he had a shirt that he really liked, I decided that the second option was the best. A word of advise though, copying patterns only works best on really basic garments unless you are willing to take everything apart.
When making up the patterns, there are a few good habits that I usually adhere too as shown below. Although it may be common sense for some, there are situations where we tend to rush and take short cuts to finish the patterns. But this may end up being detrimental when the garment is being sewn or when we have to go back to revise the pattern.
Once the initial pattern has been traced (only trace half of the garment), I made sure every piece fitted together and seam allowance added to the final pattern. Then it was the simple task of cutting and sewing the fabric up. As linen frays very easily, I had to handle the fabric carefully. I also did french seams as I didn’t have an overlocker at home.
When I finished the shirt, he was so happy with the result that he asked if I could make him another one. So off we went to the fabric shop again (most of the staff in the shop recognise me now), and chose a purple colour linen.
The purple linen is softer than the cream one but dad has yet to wear it out. He is saving it for Sunday when he goes to church with mom, both of them in their new outfits and telling everyone that I made it. It’s a bit embarrassing when parents do that but as long as mom and dad is happy wearing the clothes I make, I’m happy too.
Dad just told me that the Feng Shui masters said that his lucky colour this year is yellow. You know what that means!
Stephen Yong 