Men's Tropical Shirt Pattern by Wardrobe by Me

I am thrilled to be able to share my husband's three new Tropical Shirts.  Wardrobe by Me did a great job on this pattern.  I love the fit and finish for this shirt.  It has a double yoke that finishes the interior seam.  (Affiliate link here if you would like to support my sewing habit/addiction).
The pattern features a double layer yoke, back pleats, convertible collar, short sleeves, side slits, front pocket and a straight hem.  The PDF features layers, A4 and Letter No trim Pages, and an A0 format option if you don't like assembling PDFs.  Her instructions are clear and the pieces fit together nicely.  There are matching sewing notches for the sleeve and collar.
I really appreciate that Wardrobe by Me always provides line drawings for her patterns.  It is so easy to know what the garment really will look like when they are provided. 

My husband has a 45.5" chest, so I made him a XXL.  He normally wears a L or XL in men's dress shirts, so be sure to measure and go by the size chart, not just make the size you normally buy.

If you are concerned about not having enough fabric I was able to eek this Ocean Blue and Palm tree one out of a two yard cut of 44" wide shirting fabric from Joann's (that I had in my stash), so if you are willing to add contrasting facings, collar and yoke you will have a ton of options.  The pocket and yoke offer bias cut options, which is great if you have a plaid or stripe you don't want to try and match.

This is a men's short sleeve button down, so it isn't a quick project, but I did sew two in one day by cutting them at the same time and batch sewing them assembly line style.  I think if you were a confident sewer and uninterrupted it might be a 4 hour project, maybe faster after having made one.  I always hate the time it takes to apply the interfacing and cut out my pieces.  I'd rather be sewing.  The collar and button holes are really the most time consuming parts.  I am always so grateful for my amazing sewing machine when I add buttons to a pattern.  It will sew every button hole exactly the same and then (with the number 18 foot) sew on the buttons.
The trouble with sewing for guys is that the fabric stores are full of fabric for ladies.  I was thrilled to find tons of Tori Richards designer prints available at Cali Fabrics.  The fabric quality was amazing and the shirts look so professional as a result.  I checked the pricing afterwards and Tori Richards shirts go for about $100-$120, so I definitely feel like it was worth my time to have made these three for my husband.

It is almost Fiesta time here in San Antonio and I really enjoyed taking pictures down on St. Mary's Strip with the new San Antonio Street Art.  The murals are so beautiful and I'm really amazed by the talented artists creations.

Unfortunately there were too many cars in the way to get a good picture of this mural, but this is George Straight, San Antonio's king of country featuring some fun fiesta decor.

I promised my husband I would make him some guayabera shirts when I upgraded my Bernina (I'm so spoilt by my 790+).  So these are all Tropical shirts, but I am going to use this pattern to make custom guayaberas for him.  I am excited to try some of my decorative stitches and embroidering on the front.  San Antonio is really lucky to have several stores that offer custom Men's shirts, Dos Carolinas and Penners are the main two, and they can get pretty pricey.  He has some specific embroidery patterns he has requested and I hope I can sew them up and show you them soon.
Happy Sewing!