Granville Shirt (Sleeveless)

It's been a while since I've sewed clothes for myself, but I actually have been doing some sewing here and there.  I made a flannel plaid shirt using the Granville pattern (Sewing Project #15) and love it!  Encouraged by that success, I decided to try another collared shirt, but with hot summer days ahead I wanted a sleeveless shirt.  I liked the Granville shirt options, but they were all meant to be sleeved.  I know the armhole can be huge if the pattern isn't meant for a sleeveless shirt, but luckily Sewaholic has a tutorial on doing a sleeveless version.  I mostly followed the instructions on that website. 

I cut about 1" from the shoulders and yoke, but I ended up taking more off later.  When I was done, though, I actually wished I had taken even more off so that the shoulder is narrower.

The first time I sewed a shirt with a yoke, I was totally confused by the instructions about rolling up the shirt.  I kept thinking I was doing things backward.  This time, though, it was a piece of cake.  It's nice to see some progress!

Since I was doing this as a sleeveless shirt, Sewaholic talks about finishing the sleeve.  Using the instructions from the linked blog, I made a bias strip and sewed it on.  It looked great, but only then I realized that my arm hole was too big.  Sometimes I get so excited to finish that I forget to check every so often that everything fits!  I was ready to quit for a while, but since I was so close to being done, I undid the bias, took the side seams in about 1" more on each side, then redid the bias.  

Hemming the bottom was also tough because of the curved edges.  I read online that I could baste the edge then pull the strings of the longer edge to get it to match up better with the shorter edge.  I did that, but my hem just doesn't look clean.  I guess that'll just have to be another area for improvement next time.

My shirt fabric isn't as pretty as the one in the Sewaholic blog and I don't know how to make flat felled seams, but I'm pretty happy with the way this shirt turned out.  I wish I had a pattern drafted off my finished shirt so I can make another one without wondering how to alter it again, but I can't bring myself to do that yet.  I'm DONE for now... just in time to watch Stage 1 of the Tour de France!