Finished - Alohawear for my beloved, and a giveaway!

We've just spent the weekend at the fabulous Riverboat Festival in Echuca. This weekend has a very special meaning for my beloved and I, as it was this time last year that we got engaged! Anyway, I decided in the lead up to our holidays, and this weekend in particular, that I wanted to make Matt something special, especially as he had been working so very hard to get Sunny running well and sorted for our travels. He'd asked for a Hawaiian shirt ages ago, and I'd found a vintage pattern on ebay pretty quickly but struggled for a decent print. It uses nearly 3 metres of fabric and for a first attempt I was fairly pragmatic and wasn't keen to spend a heap on something he might not wear much. Anyway, long story short - Spotlight had nothing that was stylish (or polyester free - I freely admit to being a synthetic snob) but Darn Cheap came through with the goods in its quilting cotton section with a lovely muted palm tree beach print for $7.50/m.

I've got to be honest here - this is one of the best things I've made - definitely the best thing I've made for him, that's for certain! How cool is it?






I know that hawaiian shirts (or more correctly known as Alohawear as I recently found out) can be tacky but my beloved does enjoy a bit of a 50's look, with a modern twist, and I think with the right fabric and a good fit they can be quite dapper. I mean, look at these other fab gents rocking the Aloha:


Captain Hawkeye Pearce from MASH. Alohawear features heavily in MASH, set in the 50's as it is, and both the men and women often sport their fab shirts when trying to relax. Hawkeye. Sigh. I was I love with him as a young girl before I even understood what a crush was. 


Tom Selleck as Magnam PI. No one rocks a mo like Tom. Love him!

And finally this stylish young lad:


How cute was Elvis as a young man? And that shirt is a winner in my book! 

So back to the pattern. Butterick 4763 is an easy make, but seriously oversized. It came in L and XL. I went for the L based on the measurements but ended up taking several centimetres out of the width each side, and out of the armscye to raise the shoulder seam. I used a similar style shirt that we bought in NY (with lobsters on it - another classic 50's print!) for sizing and the fit is pretty much perfect. The only slightly not-great part is part of the collar, but fortunately the busy print hides the issue. The collar is a 2 piece job, without a collar stand - a bit like a bowling shirt. The benefit of taking in the seams was that it gave me lovely big seam allowances to do flat felled seams in the armscyes - they look so great, such a nice RTW finish. The sleeves are inserted flat, then the arm and side seams are done as one, which makes it super easy to do them flat felled. I was a bit tired by the time came to do the arm and side seams, so I just frenched them, which looks great when he rolls the sleeves up. I really enjoyed making this shirt, obviously because I just knew it was going to be super cool, but also because it is a really good pattern and it was nice to be able to get such nice finishes on the inside and such an easy fit (men are so much easier to fit dammit!). I've promised him one a year.....


I love the buttons - also from Darn Cheap. They really add that vintage feel:



Now, the other awesome thing was that in an Echuca op shop I found an epic stash of patterns (country op shops are THE best) including this uncut Butterick 6025 in a very similar in style to the 4763. The main difference is it has a back yoke, and side splits (which I wouldn't do - waste of time!). It's a size 38 chest (97cm), and the finished chest/ab measurement is 109cm. You want it? Just let me know in the comments, and you can have it - I'll leave the giveaway open for a week from today (say, last day of Feb) and if there's more than one taker I'll do a little ballot. You MUST let me know if you make your beloved some Alohawear - we could start a Flickr group! Am happy to post worldwide.



So what's the verdict? Is the hawaiian shirt a classic part of a gentlemans leisure wardrobe? Or a tacky excuse for a man to get in on some printed fabric action? 


He totally rocks it, such a spunk rat! 




Comments

  1. Absolutely essential. The world be so bland without a bit of aloha every now and then. That palm tree print is such a classic!! Winner.

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    1. Hey there! Thanks so much! I was so pleased to find it - thanks for coming by :)

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  2. Spunk rat indeed!!! Aloha works on the right person (case in point, your beloved). On my beloved I think it would be tragedy :) I think this looks awesome, he totally rocks it! Don't include me in the giveaway, because let's face it, we all know I have a Negroni on the list, fabric and all and it's sadly languishing. Perhaps it's time has come :)

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    1. Thanks Jiliian! Don't worry, I also have a shamefully ignored Negroni! I flick over it quickly when going through my patterns - this shirt was so easy though, it truly took me a day to make - but no doubt an oxford style shirt will take forever! Perhaps once it gets to winter we need to support each other through a Negroni make....

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    2. Sarah, lovely, I've done the Negroni once and hence my reticence. Not one, but two plaids versions! Pattern matching, ugh. At least I'm tackling the short sleeved one this time!

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    3. I'm seriously impressed now lady! I've got some checked fabric in the stash for a muslin for him. Although I should probably run it past him that he actually likes it - holy hell I'm not making a Negroni in a fabric he doesn't like, muslin or not!

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  3. Well done! I would love to make one for my husband as well! We are not going on vacation soon... He just has... Ummm... Style :)

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    1. Thanks Rachel! I'll put your name in the hat to win the pattern! Fingers crossed for your Man of Style!

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  4. Awesome shirt! I love Alohawear - or any kind of Polynesiana really. My hubby plays guitar, so over the years I've made him 5 guitar print shirts. Three of those also qualify as Aloha, since guitars and ukes often feature on those fabrics. They're so fun, and he wears them all the time.

    If you're willing to ship to the US, I'd love the pattern - it's Hubby's size!

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    1. Thanks Gail! Mine is teaching himself guitar so he really looks the part now! I'm on the lookout for some retro car fabric now for him, which probably won't qualify as Alohawear.... I'll put your name in the hat - absolutely I'll post to the USA! Good luck!

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  5. Umm, I WANT YOUR HUSBAND'S SHIRT! Like, I want it to wear myself. Seriously. I think Hawaiian shirts rock and I used to own a couple that were always on high rotation. Between my gazillion moves and weight fluctuations they seem to have disappeared from my wardrobe but your man's shirt is making me insanely jealous. By the way, you are right: he is totally rocking that look! And I bet it looks great paired with Sunny :) You are a very nice wife for having indulged him. As for the pattern giveaway, I will take a pass. My hubby is a bit larger than 38.

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    1. Haha you know I totally had Aloha-envy too when it was done! I think if I find a suitable flamingo print I'll be looking for a pattern for me! Thanks for the nice comment, as usual! :)

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  6. Not entering the comp, just commenting to say that I have several of these patterns in varying sizes, inherited from my grandmother. I wonder how many of these shirts my father and grandfather had made for them...

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    1. Hi Siobhan! If only you knew! How fabulous to have some of your grandmothers patterns! Thanks for coming by!

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  7. A shirt like that is my husband's dream come true, seriously!!! I would LOVE that pattern and the size is perfect :)

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  8. hello, came across your blog today. ive made my beloved 3 Hawaiian shirts, didnt know they were called alohawear thats excellent! I cut up one of his old ones for a pattern, so not entering the comp but thought id say hi anyway. We also have some nice memories of echuca. one shirt I made from a sarong (he's not a sarong wearer) and the other two, actually ordered fabric direct from Hawaii, even paying postage it was still very resonable. really like the palm tree fabric and the buttons.

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    1. Hi Babarajane! That's very cool and great to know about fabric direct from Hawaii! Glad you like the fabric, I love it too! Thanks so much for coming by!

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