Red Gingham Western Shirt for ME!!

I made a fairly simple shirt for me. I have made this same pattern several times and really like it. It's on older pattern McCalls 6383, by the looks of the collar I would would say this pattern is from the late 70's. I had some lightweight red gingham fabric that is a cotton poly blend. I later realized that I also had some nice red eyelet fabric that would have made a nice contrasting yoke.

I did have some problems with the pockets since they were cut on the bias. When I turned under the edges the pockets got wonky and large. I decided to not sweat it and sewed them in place thinking that they would be fine. Good thing because once the shirt was finished and washed the pockets did not look funky at all. Everything worked out nicely. 

The gingham is very small so the detail is not obvious, but yoke is cut on the bias too. This is where a nice red eyelet fabric would have stood out if I really wanted to make it look like a western shirt. I'm already looking through my fabric to see if I have more gingham. I found some pink but not sure if the red eyelet will work with pink. I also want 100% cotton. Thought his fabric is nice and light because it's a cotton poly blend it does not breath as well as 100% cotton. I was hoping for a nice light summer shirt to wear over tank tops this summer. We shall see as the days get hotter. 

This pattern has a large cuff too. I was smart this time and shortened the sleeves. The last few shirts I have made the sleeves are about 1" too long. That tends bother me and I end up rolling up my sleeves. When the sleeves are rolled up then you don't see the detail. I also wanted a shirt that the cuffs would not get wet when washing hands or dishes. I think I got it right on this one. 

The shirt it's self is very basic, it's a little baggy. I think I need to add darts to pull it in a little at the waist. Because of the pockets I don't want to put in bust darts but some darts on the back would make this a nice fitting shirt. I also want to try this pattern in a lawn fabric and make a straight hem. That way I can wear the shirt with skirts. I have never liked the way shirt tails look when wearing skirts and since I have gotten older I have added some extra pounds to my waist and tucking in a shirt is not an option. 

Now my favorite part...I love these snaps. I bought them a couple years ago up in Vancouver BC. There is a great fabric shop called Dressew, it's in the downtown area and only accepts cash or debit (which american debit cards do not work there so if you are coming from the states bring cash). They have a large selection of fabric but an even larger selection of sewing notions. I bought these snaps for $.49 a package, there were 7 snaps in the package so even buying 2 packages it was cheaper than what they sell for in Portland. Here in Portland a package of 12 snaps would cost $5. When I bought these snaps my husband said "what are you going to use those for?". I thought he would like them on his shirt...OH NO...he did not like them. So they have sat in my sewing studio for 2 years. When I was looking for what snaps to use on the shirt I pulled out these gems...they were perfect.