This is a story about how making very different shirts out of somewhat similar fabric makes people think that they are all the same shirt.

After making the shirt for Mother's Day, I had a little bit of Kaufman's cotton/linen blend in indigo left over. I decided I had enough to make a tee shirt, which is what I did. I used the Aurora Tee pattern from Hey June Handmade, which was a bit of a risk as it was designed to be used with knits. Went up a size, and slightly added to the waist curve and it actually came out pretty well. The biggest issue was the narrowing on the sleeve, so I shortened them a bit to a point where they were less narrow. I dealt with with the curved hem by using bias tape, and finished the neckline with bias tape as well, all made from the project fabric. It is a pretty basic linen tee, but I really like it and was happy with the outcome.

After making something I rather liked out of the scraps from the previous project, I wanted to buy some linen and plan out some projects. I had made a shirt before with Kaufman's washer linen, which is a rayon/linen blend. It has such great drape and it is so comfortable that I wanted to make something else with it as well. So I purchased some Kaufman Brussels Washer Linen Blend Yarn Dye Denim and some Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen Blend Black. And I bought quite a bit of it, because there were some decent discounts for making a minimum purchase on Fabric.com. I basically bought enough to make two shirts out of each. So far, I have made one from each and am saving the rest.

First I made a Laurel blouse from Colette patterns from the washer linen. I'm not sure why i haven't made this before. I think I was worried about it being too boxy, but made out of washer linen, with its beautiful drape, it is anything but. I also thought I was going to have to insert an invisible zipper, but was thrilled when I realized that the blouse version didn't require it.

The first time I wore it though, I received comments regarding the last time I had worn this shirt. My reaction may have looked a bit like this:

Now on to the black cotton/linen blend fabric. I decided to make the top 64 from Merchant and Mills. I had bought the pattern years before, even made one once, but I wasn't happy with it. I think it was something I had done wrong, back in the early sewing days. I have seen some that I really liked out there, so I decided to give it another shot.

To make things interesting, I decided to try a hong kong finish on the seams. I used red bias tape, which looks lovely against the yarn dyed linen. I like rolling the sleeves up and showing the bias taped seams. I passed on the top stitching.

I finished the neckline with the same red bias tape. Because of the stiffness of this top, it does show a bit at the neckline when you move. The comment I got the first time I wore it was 'I didn't notice that red pop of color on the neckline the last time you wore that shirt.'

So I am taking a break from linen, because everyone just thinks I am only making one shirt, although I am itching to make a Cheyenne tunic with the rest of the washer linen. Now that I look at all of these projects together, I guess I understand the confusion and that all of these projects do look a bit similar. Well, it is getting warmer, so wanting a bit of linen is forgivable.