I made a simple sleeping shirt without a collar in raglan sleeves. Sometimes I find a collar to be in a way when I'm sleeping, and I wanted to have my night shirt without it. I also made the sleeves a little shorter because I find full length sleeves to be a little too hot. (For this sleeping shirt, I modified Butterick B5261 pattern designed by Connie Crawford.)
It's nice to be able to just make something I feel comfortable in when I sleep.
Sometimes people think it is very quick to make a simple project and when I tell them how much time it may take to make, they do not want to hire me to make it any more.
There are four pieces to make this shirt: front, back, and sleeves. This shirt took about three hours to make from cutting the fabrics to finishing the hems in simple finish. If I were to break it down to each steps, it is like this:
1. Lay the prepared patterns (cut to the size) on the fabric, pin them in place and cut the pieces out.
2. Mark all the necessary marks so you can identify the pieces of the fabrics.
3. Prepare the edges with serger to prevent the fabrics from fraying.
4. Put the pieces together to sew one seam at a time. (This shirt has about 6 seams to sew.)
5. After sewing each seam, press the seams. (Without this step, the garment does not look good.)
6. Finish the neckline with a binding and installing a placket and snaps.
7. Finish the hems of the sleeves.
8. Finish the bottom hem.
I am talking about a very simple shirt like this one takes about three hours to make. Imagine if this shirt had a stand collar, front buttons, back yoke, and cuffs with plackets.
Have you ever thought about how factories make so many pieces of garments to be sold at a very low price at a store? It is because they streamline the work to cut down on the cost, time, and all else that can be cut. Each person who sew at a factory like that would be sewing one thing all day long...
This means the person who is sewing is just sewing one part of a garment and does not have the sense of satisfaction of finishing one project, but he/she can't do anything about it because it's just a job for him/her. I know that the apparel industry does provide jobs for those who need them.
But I like making my own clothes because I can make it the way I like and can have the satisfaction of finishing a project. I also know that I do a high-quality job in sewing. Sometimes with the ready-made clothing items, you can see all the shortcuts... I don't do shortcuts when I make my own clothes, and they last longer.