Club Obi Wan

Hello,
My son's 7th birthday is coming up soon and since he's a big Indy fan I've been getting him some gear. He 's getting the hat, a sound effects whip, a Raiders journal, maproom brush, MK VII satchel with shoulder strap, magnifying glass etc. etc.

The only thing missing was a shirt. I looked high and low for a suitable shirt. Even trying to find a kids safari shirt was next to impossible.

Then I stumbled across a Boy Scout shirt. It was khaki, it had epaulettes and chest pockets. Good base to start from.

Once I got the shirt I went to the fabric store and lucked out. I found an almost identical fabric made of the same poly cotton blend. $2.00 got me more than I needed.

I also got some new buttons while I was there.

First I had to make the strips of material that go down the front of the shirt. I made them 1 1/4" wide, folded over the edges and ironed a nice sharp crease in them.

Next I removed the pockets and pocket flaps. I cut down and re-shaped the pockets to be square with a flat bottom. The pockets were originally long and had a pointed bottom.

I stitched strips onto the pockets while they were off the shirt so that when put back on they are fully functional.

I positioned the strips where I wanted them to go, folded the bottom under and sewed it on. When I got to the shoulder seam, I opened it up, tucked the strip inside and sewed it all back together.

Next I positioned the chest pockets, lined everything up and sewed those on. I even went so far as to add the pen slot on the pocket flap.

I added some extra stitch details to the button placket and removed some stitching from the epaulettes as well to give it a more SA look.

It looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside. It came out even better than I expected.

So here it is. I liked it so much that I made him 2 of them. Now I need to make myself one!

hehe..

thats just to cool.hehe


great work

and congratulations with your sons b-day


bests
Holt

You are too cool man! Way to go and what a great job to boot!

You are " The Man" !! That shirt is fantatastic.

My 5 year old son caught me showing this to my wife and now for almost an hour we have heard, "I need a Indy shirt like that one! That's a cool Indy shirt! PLEEEAAAASE!!"

That looks awesome!, nice work.

ha ha! that's awesome jared! good work

Thanks man. I really think he'll really like it. I'll have to get some pictures of him after he's all suited up.

That is so cool for so many reasons. It makes sewing seem ( seam? ) like the most manly, fatherly thing any fella could do.

Awesome! I would've loved one of those when I was younger!

awesome work, Mech! I remember when I was a scout, I really thought our uniform shirts would make a great Raiders shirt...shame it was short-sleeved. :junior: -M

Thanks for the kind words. There's alot of ways I could have cut corners on this shirt. I could have sewn the pleats right through the pockets but I took the pockets off, sewed the pleats on, re-shaped them and then put them back on. The pockets are fully funtional and not just decorative. I even put the pen slot on the pocket flap.

It doesn't really matter, he'll never use the pockets or even know the difference, but I will. If I was going to do an Indy shirt, I was going to go all the way and do it the right way.

It's all worth it.

kiltie wrote:That is so cool for so many reasons. It makes sewing seem ( seam? ) like the most manly, fatherly thing any fella could do.

HA HA HA HA..... (off the record, I learned how to sew back in grade school when I had to remove the non SA buttons off of the military khaki shirts and sew on the correct ones)

Very cool. I would like to order on in a size 8

That's the size of the shirts I did, boys 8. They'll be a little big on him but he'll be able to wear them for a year or 2.

TheMechanic wrote:That's the size of the shirts I did, boys 8. They'll be a little big on him but he'll be able to wear them for a year or 2.

How long is the lead time?

The problem is finding the Boy Scout shirts. Most shirts that small are for Cub Scouts and they are navy blue.

I hear new shirts ordered through the Boy Scout suppliers are around $35.00.

I got a deal on Ebay, I bought the last 2 this guy had for $16.00 each brand new.

TheMechanic wrote:The problem is finding the Boy Scout shirts. Most shirts that small are for Cub Scouts and they are navy blue.

I hear new shirts ordered through the Boy Scout suppliers are around $35.00.

I got a deal on Ebay, I bought the last 2 this guy had for $16.00 each brand new.

oh, so you won't make me one.....even if I begged?

You're the man

Cowboy, I'm just saying that if I found a shirt it would be upwards of $30.00 plus about 3 hours of labor plus a few bucks in materials.