well it's actually a miniature version of one i first made for vic.

last summer when we were in jackson hole for a friend's wedding i decided to check out the local fabric scene (like you do).

in one of the stores i picked up some classic cobalt plaid and men's button down pattern.

i guess i was trying, in some sense, to bring some of this:

this:

and this:

home with us.

a few months later, after i had finished nora and etta's back to school dresses and maya's halloween costume, i was finally ready to start the shirt.

but it just didn't feel right to be using a big four pattern on a shirt for victor. this is a guy who smokes his own bacon, loves chopping wood, and makes his own hot sauce from heirloom peppers he grows from seeds. not to mention i'm a girl who thinks everything tastes better from a mason jar, shops from etsy more than amazon, and feels more things should be made from reclaimed wood.

enter the walden line from the portland oregon based colette pattern company. when i came across their negroni shirt pattern at britex it just spoke to my indie/hipster/artisinal heart.

that weekend when we went up to visit our friends for thanksgiving i got to work tracing and cutting. side note in addition to the turkey we deep fried ourselves we also had this to be thankful for:

the shirt came together perfectly (let's credit that to fantastic instructions of indie patterns).

like the lil man flannel i finished the hem by hand. however with this shirt i used a contrasting black solid cotton for the placket.

but between the flat felled seams and the size of adult clothing i felt like it took forever to sew this sucker.

for the buttons i, per usual, turned to etsy and got these awesome handcrafted red heart ones from anthony's wood shop.

finally since i obviously couldn't use one of my standard 'love aunt maggie' labels on something i made my boyfriend of six years, i used my final pre made one:

i gave vic the shirt on christmas morning. he put it on immediately, but had to get back to more important business: figuring out how the chipmunk got his stripes.