Happy New Week dear lovely needleworkers, I hope you are all doing great today, it's another Needlework Monday and I can't wait to fill you in on how my latest sewing project went.

If someone asks me to describe what sewing means to me in one word, I can't think of a more perfect word to reply than a 'Blessing', ever since I decided to take up learning and growing in the art of sewing, not only am I being blessed daily having this pool of knowledge that seems to have no end because we learn new things every day, especially as the world keeps evolving, also the fashion design is such a vast niche I don't think it is possible for one person to have all this knowledge, the best we could try is to keep on learning, apart from it being a blessing to me, it also helps me extend this blessing to others, thereby making me fulfill a purpose on earth, it is one talent don't take for granted, and I'm humbled by it.

This time, I made this plain white shirt for a church sister, yea, that's how we refer to ourselves in church, same as brethren, to show we are one family with God as our father, I discovered she is a good singer but felt reluctant to join the choir, so I had a personal discussion with her to know the reason, and shockingly she said it was because she couldn't afford to buy the choir uniform, I felt bad because, as long as I'm in a gathering such as a church, no one should have that setback, I understand her because the price of clothing, this white shirt for instance can be very costly, but Ine advantage of being a designer is that I can easily cut down this cost and recreate same design at a minimal cost.

The choir members are always dressed in white and black most times as this is their main uniform, though they have others, so I decided to work on the white shirt for her, I got the white 100% cotton fabric from the fabric store costing almost $3 I had shirt buttons at home as I had bought a pack a long time ago, also the collar stay and that was all I needed to make this shirt, you could hardly tell if it was custom made or ready to wear.

Cutting And Sewing Process

• The first step was cutting the front and back pattern, using a shirt pattern which is basically a bodice pattern with a high neck depth of 3 inches in front and 1 inch at the back, also the front is two patterned pieces, having an extra 2.5 inches at the middle for the button and buttonhole.

• Next, I joined both front and back by the shoulders, folded in the middle button/buttonhole space, and also measured around the joined neckline

• Using the measurement, I went further to make a shirt collar, which I stitched around the neckline

• Continuing, I drafted and cut out the long sleeve alongside its cuff, and sewed them together separately before joining them to both armholes

• Here is me making button holes with my sewing machine.

• Finally, I sewed in the buttons using my needle and thread, hand-sewing it,

And that completes the making process of the plain white shirt, I hope these steps are easy to follow for anyone wishing to recreate a similar shirt. I gave her the shirt yesterday after church service, she was so happy as she fitted it, looking forward to seeing her join the choir next Sunday.

Sewing is indeed a blessing.

*All images used in this post are mine.

Thank you for reading.❤❤