Sewing Cooler for Matt

2/19/2023

This is a follow-up to a post about incorporating "harder" and "groovier-than-average" elements into my sewing endeavors.  I'd like to show off a project that I recently completed for Matt.  Another "cool shirt," this time with a kaleidoscopic patchwork twist.

2/25/2023

Matt named it the "Bob Quam Shirt."  Bob Quam headed the church camp that Matt attended and loved as a kid--where he took his first backpacking trip and fell in love with the stars.  Apparently, Bob had some similarly bright shirts.  Maybe not quite this bright, I'm told, but...close.

Ginger helping me sort the fabric strips.  5/27/2022

I worked on this patchwork endeavor on and off since May last year.  I'd piece and sew on it and then put it aside in favor of other projects.  I actually forgot about it for a while until Matt mentioned it shortly after Thanksgiving.  The pattern for the shirt is a McCalls M6044.  

Playing games at our BnB in Paradise Valley.  2/25/2023

All the patchwork fabrics have a story, but my favorite is the teal corduroy.  Matt rocked this teal shirt when we met.  It was one of his favorites.  He wore it until it started to fall apart.  But, I'm a sentimental gal with a proclivity for upcycling.  There were parts of the shirt that were still okay.  So it went into my sewing stash instead of the garbage.  

Matt wearing the teal corduroy shirt at a family gathering.  This picture includes his brothers, Adam and Ryan, plus Aunt Bonita.  May 2002

In 2012, I used it in a binocular strap upgrade for Matt.  A few years later I took the yolk of the shirt and created a wall display for our collection of pins and buttons.  This patchwork shirt used up almost every remaining scrap.  What an extended career that shirt has had!  It may have been a mistake to include the teal in this patchwork shirt because it is more dilapidated than the other fabrics....but...my sentimental heart won out.  It looked right and I knew it would add an instant specialness to the shirt.  If it comes down to it....I'll patch the patchwork.  No biggie.  I did reinforce the teal with a layer of lightweight interfacing.  Fingers crossed.

Another photo with Matt is in the beloved shirt.  May 2002

My second favorite is the set of coordinating blue geometric fabrics.  This is one gift from my mom that I have gotten a boatload of use out of over the past decade. The dress, the vest, the curtains...  There was so much of it to start with and some of my past projects have been re-purposed, too, so this fabric just keeps making the rounds. Case in point, Matt's new shirt includes part of the cover I'd made to extend the life of our old sofa.  It pleases me.  There is still a lot of this fabric for future projects.  This is far from the end of it.  

2/25/2023

The best part about the whole project was how enthusiastic Matt was throughout.  He was so gosh darn excited about it from the first completed blocks right up through picking out the perfect retro buttons.  His amazement at my "making fabric" before I could even start cutting and sewing the piece of the shirt was really gratifying.  He makes me feel like a wizard with my sewing machine.  I hope the shirt lives up to the long anticipation.  

Finished and tacked up on the felt board at the sewing retreat house.  2/19/2023

If I had it to do all over again I would make the patchwork blocks an actual square.  Instead, they're rectangles about 3.5 by 4.5 inches.  That sorta limited how I was able to arrange the blocks.  I still struggle with the maths involved in quilting and patchwork sewing jobs.  It is not my strong suit.  Alls well that ends well though.  It turned out even better than my vision.

The sewing retreat bunch!  It was a great group of gals.  So much sewing and laughing.  2/19/2023

I finally finished the Bob Quam Shirt at the sewing retreat I attended last month with my mom, my aunt, Matt's mom, and a group of her friends.  I finished the Bob Quam Shirt plus two NON-patchwork shirts that felt like a snap comparatively.  Matt picked out all the fabric and buttons on these two as well.  Turns out he has a fondness for shank buttons and rainbow colors!  It was fun and we're both pleased with how the shirts turned out.  

The other two shirts I made at the retreat.  As of yet, I don't think they have names like the "Space Shirt" or the "Bob Quam Shirt."  2/18/2023

We went to a concert the evening I got home from the sewing retreat.  Matt immediately put on the Bob Kuam shirt and went dancing!

Photo of the dancefloor--with Matt circled--from the Railroad Earth show at The Elm on 2/19/2023.  Photo credit to GetRel Photography.