/the portland flannel

That's right, another Archer here. I'd been attempting to buy plaid flannel many times in the past month or so, with failed searches online and at Joann (actually found this same one in 41" width, but there wasn't enough yardage). So, on a super quick trip to Portland a couple weekends ago my friends obliged me and we made a quick stop at a fabric store! Hooray! For some reason I thought there would be a bigger selection of plaid flannels in Portland but there were just a few. Two yards of this one did the trick, though.

For this shirt I took extra care in sewing on the pockets because I cut them (among other pieces) on the bias. In the past I've used a fabric glue stick for a little extra security before sewing, but didn't want to accidentally warp them while applying the glue, so I found some Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 among my sewing stuff and it worked super well. It's basically double-sided tape that bonds when ironed. Just apply to pocket allowances after folding, place it and press. After that, no worries about that pocket shifting anywhere while sewing.

 Just before starting construction, I remembered that I'd seen little loops sewn in right above the pleat on lots of store-bought shirts in the past. After Googling something like "loop on back of button-up shirts", I actually got the info I was looking for- it's called a hang loop/hanging loop. A few of the sources I looked at said they were added to shirts because collegiate athletes only had a little hook in their lockers and needed a way to hang their shirts without wrinkling during practice. There were also many horror stories about classmates ripping them off of shirts... um, yikes. I just think they look cute.

I've washed and worn this thing a few times and it keeps getting more and more soft. Pretty sure I'll be loving this for a long long time, until it's all holey a la Nirvana.