White linen shirt sized for a 5-year-old started June 15, 2018. Finished March 4, 2019.
To be fair making this shirt went fairly quickly. Unfortunately I started making this for my son and then got pulled off to a lot of other projects. It probably only took about a week to sew it together but that was spread out over almost a year.
It turns out that based on my son’s chest measurement he is EXACTLY the size laid out in the child’s shirt pattern shown in “The Tudor Child” (p. 77-78)(https://amzn.to/2ld5iZS). The book calls for “tiny flat felled seams”. The seams are very short so I decided to construct and finish the shirt entirely by hand. The seams were sewn with running stitch for the first pass and overcast for the second pass.
I decided to use a plain cuff and collar. The shirt is gathered lightly into the cuff and collar. I used a strong thread to form a gather stitch (the brown thread showing in a few pictures). As soon as the first side of the cuff or collar was attached I clipped and removed the gathering thread.
I ended up pulling a couple of buttons from my stash. I added two buttons (because it seemed like a good idea) but I suspect a single button would be more correct. With only a single button the front opening seems impossibly long. I think on the next shirt I’ll make the front slit shorter and eliminate the second button.
Final note: At Purgatorio in late August of 2019 I gifted this shirt to a friend whose son is the same age as my son but is of a slighter build.
Sleeves finished. 
Tiny gusset added to each side of the neck opening at the shoulder. Front opening finished. Brown gathering thread added around neck opening 
Collar gather and attached. Sleeves attached. 
Adding tiny reinforcement gusset to the side split. 
Half of an itty bitty cuff. Divided into 8 sections. Each section marked by a straight pin. 
Sleeve end divided into 8 sections with each section marked by a tiny gold safety pin. Gathering thread run around the end of the sleeve. 
Used one more pin to match up each of the 8 sections of sleeve with the 8 sections of cuff. Then pull the gathering string to gather the sleeve into the cuff. 
View inside of the cuff. I sew these on with two passes. First with what will be the inside of the cuff (here showing on the inside of the sleeve with the wrong side showing) with a back stitch at about 1/4″ into the sleeve. Second pass I’ll add the other side of the cuff and connect all three at the 1/2″ seam allowance with a back stitch. 
Cuff attached. I used a pencil to mark a 1/2″ seam allowance on the end of the cuff. 
Fold the end of the cuff down inside and out and pin it in place. 
I then finished this with a slip stitch. 
Simple 5-loop white linen finger loop braid to use for the button loops. 
Finished shirt.
BINGE LIST
When I sew I tend to have something on TV in the background. I’ve decided it amuses me to record what I watched with the item.
Lucifer (seasons 1-3) – (Netflix) Curiously thought provoking. I’m going to pretend the last two episodes on Netflix just don’t exist (because they’re bullshit) and have decided to believe that when Netflix releases season 4 it will just start off right after the end of “A Devil of My Word” and that FINALLY the “will they/won’t they” of the whole freaking series will get addressed/resolved. Do you hear me Netflix? Address this or there will be tableflipping!!
The Umbrella Academy (season 1) -(Netflix) Super powers give you super problems for which you come up with super coping mechanisms with a sprinkling of time travel. Highly recommend. I may go back and re-watch it.
