Shirt-in-Progress

Just for fun, here's a couple pics of Chris's regency shirt in progress. There are no shoulder seams, so you just cut a "T" shaped hole for the head, and then gather the neckline up into the collar.

Shirt without collar

Shirt with Collar.
I made him take off his dress shirt
because the collar would get in the way,
but he's still wearing a t-shirt.
It's just hidden under the folds, sleeves and all!

Pattern illustration of the neckline, gusset & shoulder strap

One little detail at the neckline is the gusset - a gusset is a little patch of fabric that fits into a seam to allow more ease. Here, they're triangular-shaped and go at the corners of the headhole, and then get covered over by a strip at the shoulder. I thought they were a cool detail, but was irritated when my gussets disappeared almost entirely under the shoulder strap and collar (of course, they'll be completely covered by the waistcoat and tailcoat anyway, but I was still irritated).

Nearly Invisible Gusset!

I was thinking that the next time I make a shirt, I might just leave the gusset out and make sure to reinforce the cut edge extra. Then I was thinking about the purpose of a gusset - to give ease - and I realized that the neck gusset is more function than style. Plus, since the gusset is a square, cut diagonally, it's on the bias which helps it curve around the neck. I have a new respect for the neck gusset!

Neck Gusset - Inside View
X-Large pic so that you can (hopefully) see the bias grain