Stash busting with TNT's

I can't quite be a monogamous sewer so there are always a few projects going on behind the scenes.
Item one - another cowboy shirt, this time in stashed Liberty of London Tara with coordinating top-stitching.

Construction wise it's exactly the same as the black one, the fabric choice just gives it a softer feel.

Item two- a Renfrew with a modified cowl drafted by me, rescued from last October's FO box. Made up in some stashed rayon/lyrca knit from emmaonesock.com.

The only change to the pattern is to make the neckline 2" deeper than the V neck point and round out the V a bit.  Then draft a narrower/longer cowl to fit it,  35.5" x 11", cowl folds in half to be 5.5".

To keep the stash busting rolling along I've joined the 2013 Stashbusting sew-a-long hosted by Cindy and Emily.  My pledge was to sew up 12 pieces of stashed fabric during the year.  Not sure if I should count the 3 garments already made or not. ;)

Cindy and Emily came up with the fun idea of giving each month of the year a theme for stash busting.  You can use the theme or just sew up stash in any way you desire.  January's theme is to use up bits of fabric that are less then a yard.  Might be skipping the theme this month unless I get around to the Grainline studio moss mini, that might take less than a yard.

Cowboy Shirt - First Garment of 2013

Before posting my sewing resolutions/taking on a sewing dare, I decided to start the year off with a new pattern hack to my shirt block.  This block was created last year after using Simplicity 2246 to knock off an Anthropologie shirt.  The shirt fit so well I made a pattern block so that all those lovely fitting changes would automatically be in any new shirts.  The first shirt made from this block was a simple button down with 3/4 sleeves that was never blogged about, but does appear in my PR reviews.  

After marathoning "True Blood" season 4, I got the itch to make a shirt with pointed western style yokes.  The internet was very helpful with giving me some good pics of this style in RTW shirts.  Got out the blocks and did a little drawing.....

Front Yoke

Back Yoke

Instead of using a plaid or tiny floral print like RTW, I decided to pick some cotton with a woven geometric print.  I like to be a little bit cowboy, a little bit rock and roll. ;)

 I lovvvvve this shirt, the cotton is very densely woven so it crisp and hardly wrinkles. The pointed yokes were a little tricky to sew, but I was able to get a nice shape after a few tries.  With the white top-stitching they really pop.

I'm also really pleased with the collar which has nice sharp points thanks to Pam's tutorial.

The collar also has Pam's Light Crisp Interfacing which turned out it be just perfect for this cotton with a little body to it.  (I'm a big fan of all of Pam's interfacing.)

My fabric is long sold out from emmaonesock.com but if you love it then Waechter's still has it in stock.  For more pics check out the flickr set.