Oh my gosh! I cannot believe the fabric faded that badly! I am sorry :( how disappointing. Like you said, when you've put the time and effort in and you didn't cheat and prewashed!! Bleh.

Well now you know the next one will be awesome.

That must be so disappointing to have your shirt ruined after only one wash, especially after all the work you have put into it. Lucky you got some photos before the disaster. As for men's shirts, I have had great success with McCalls 6044 and I thoroughly recommend it.

sadness! I know most people only have Jo-Ann's near them, but I must say that their fabric is just of poor quality. it might be worth it to search out better stuff. though it just doesn't make sense, you pre-washed it! anyway, I digress. I wanted to toss in my two cents with the shirts- I made my man the Negroni and he likes it, but in the end he prefers a proper collar and top button and not a flat collar that sits open like on the Negroni, so for the future I'm taking that into account. if your man has a preference, that might be the deciding factor!

How frustrating! If you're having problems with snaps, I've had great luck using the Snapsetter tool from The Snap Source.

Oh no, that's terrible, after all your hard work. That level of fading is ridiculous, you must be gutted. I'm interested to see the shirt recommendations you get - I'd like to make one for my husband but I don't think the Negroni is quite right for him.

The blue was beautiful... but I have to say that I think the faded out browns of that top photo are just lovely too. If I saw something that warm and burnt-buttery and autumn-y in store, I'd be tempted to buy it and make it up. So, while its not what had originally planned, maybe its not a total loss?

Gah, that's so sad about the color! I have to say, I bought some plaid flannel from JoAnn for my Archer class I'm teaching and even cutting the fabric single layer I had a hell of a time getting my plaids to match. That fabric really is horrible! Besides the fading the shirt looks beautiful...and little Vito looks pretty cute too! <3puglove!

I'm gutted for you, sewing time is precious and after you carefully pre-washed this shouldn't have happened.

Ah that's such a shame that it's not what you wanted in the end. I have to say I REALLY like the faded colours though and the shirt is so lovely that it would be a shame to go to waste. x

Did you use shirting flannel, or something from the Fall Fashions Platitudes collection? I can vouch for the Platitudes flannel, it's very thick and my pieces haven't faded. Other than the Platitudes I won't touch flannel from JA...heard too many bad things! But I do think the faded version is also lovely.

I made my hubby a Negroni and he likes it (other than fit issues which are my fault). The pattern directions are great. I'll be making him another one of these days and see no reason to ever buy anoth button-up pattern. If you wanted to add a collar stand it shouldn't be too hard to draft one (I think Peter has a tutorial for it on Male Pattern Boldness, along with a sewalong).

Wow! That is some serious fading. Other than the color insanity, it looks like a great shirt. Hope the next one is more colorfast for you.

Oh no! I'm so sorry and I totally feel for you - that is so frustrating when things fade like that after all your hard work! You're (pre) Archer was beautiful and I can imagine you got a lot of wear out of it. Honestly, the faded colors aren't all that bad - you could get some good use out of it!

Oh no!! It's a lovely blouse, regardless. Onto the next, eh?

Oh, no, I'm so sorry! That really stinks! Honestly, the color doesn't look terrible from the photo, but it must be so disappointing that it changed so much. I hope you make another because the style is so cute on you!

I'm planning to make McCall's 6044 for my dude-- it's a nice, casual men's shirt pattern and there are some really great versions of this on different sewing blogs (Crab & Bee made it, and so did True Bias, just to name a few).

God, what a nightmare. It does look like a completely different shirt and such a shame, when initially it looked so great (if you don't point out the plaid matching error, no one non-sew-y will notice). Is it wearable in the new colourway at all? Or could you try dyeing it? You'd lose the plaid, but perhaps not the shirt? Hope the next one is longer lasting!
Keen to see which shirt you come up with. I have been considering a shirt for my hubby and was going to go down the Negroni route, but he does suit his shirts more slim fitting!

I never thought about dyeing it. I might give that a try.
A couple gals have mentioned McCall's 6044. You might want to check that one out as well. I might end up going with that one as it offers the biggest sizing and my husband likes his shirts to fit a little bigger.

Oh yeah I will definitely be making this one again.

Oh I really like that one. It comes in the largest sizes too. That might be good cuz my husband likes to wear his clothes a little on the big side. He doesn't like anything to clingy.

I believe it was just a shirting flannel. It was on clearance for like $2 or $3 a yard. I'll have to check out the Platitudes collection.

I've had a couple mention McCall's 6044. It looks promising.

What the hell?! It's like the black stripes rusted! Gutted for you :(
So nice... Maybe could dye it a dark colour?

I still can't believe that fabric did that! Ugh! Your guy may like the Sis Boom Marco, that's a nice looking men's classic shirt.

I've been thinking about that.

If you had not prewashed it, I guess anything could be possible but considering you prewashed it, the only thing I can think to ask is, did you change the detergent, or possibly use one with bleach, OR had you run a wash immediately prior to washing this, but one that used bleach? I never, ever buy any fabrics from Jo-Ann's clearance table, even if it just for sewing for dolls, for sale, because I never know how it will be handled by the buyer. I do like their nursery flannels and have never had a problem with any of them for my charity quilts. Did you check the bolt end when you chose the plaid? If the bolt end does not identify every single fabric in the piece, don't buy it. I would definitely ask for my money back and I would write a letter to their home office about the decline in quality of their fabrics over the last few years. I cannot wear synthetic fabrics so buying any fabric there for me is pretty much out these days. I had a finished garment ruined once. I made a white crepe pants suit for my Mom to go to a Ford Motor Company event with my Dad. It was a very simple tunic and pants, but I made it well, completely underlined, and there were expensive opalescent sequins on the cuffs of the top and the cuffs of the pants. I asked the dry cleaner just to press it, but not put a hot iron over the sequined areas. When I got the garment back, all the sequins were melted and the dry cleaner refused to cover the damage. I could not find the same sequins so had to use silver and it was just not as lovely with the silver. I never used that cleaner again. I truly am sorry for the damage to a garment you really liked and the only thing I can think of would be to overdye it.

One more thought -- should you buy any more fabrics like that from JoAnn's or other sources, perhaps prewashing with Synthrapol would help "fix" the colors? Here is a link about the product:

http://www.dharmatrading.com/chemicals/synthrapol-detergent.html



I use it to wash my finished quilts, or to wash fabrics in colors that are known to bleed. The more I think about the color change, I am wondering if somewhere along the line the fabric was not already overdyed inexpensively, without being "fixed", thus resulting in the fading/color change you experienced. My daughter used to use Purex Laundry detergent and while I like it for whites, I did discover that it faded her children's colored clothing terribly. I eventually talked her into using Melaleuca products for laundry and no more fading.

No I didn't use anything with bleach. That's the weird part about it. I washed it just like I prewashed it. Nothing else in the wash was discolored, only that shirt. I've had a couple bad run ins with clearance fabric from Joann's. The only thing I will buy it now for is muslins.

I just feel so bad for the time you put into the shirt, one you obviously loved. Yes, be careful of the fabrics on their tables at the back of the store. May every thing you make in 2014 be a whopping success!

I actually really like the brown and light blue colors at the top but HOLY CRAP I've never seen anything fade like that! One of my goals is to branch out and not rely on JoAnns so much for "garment" fabrics. I love Denyse Schmidt quilting cotton, but haven't been very happy with most of my other purchases there. I think your Archer turned out really well, even with the fabric snafu!

Whoaaaaa that looks like a totally different shirt. It still looks super cute, but so different! You could have done another photo shoot and wore the shirt a second time and I would have thought you made another version haha :)


I can't wait to see your next one since I have loved the others! xoxo

After telling you on twitter that my plaid Archer made it through the wash unscathed, I found a huge oil spot on mine. Right. Over. The. Bewb!!!! Can't find more fabric to put the pockets on it. :( I will be making this again. Probably not in plaid. I feel your pain.

ARGH! THat's such a bummer!! Could you find a contrasting fabric to use for the pockets? That might look kewl.

Nah. I'm just gonna wear it at home. It was for the grunge sewalong and wasn't really what I would normally wear. It was fun, but I'll be fine without it in my regular wardrobe.

HI there, I just found your blog through the RTW Fast. Oh No! I think that I bought up as much of this plaid from Jo Ann's as I could find. Is it called "Blue Buffalo" or something like that? I loved the color combo so much... now I don't know what will happen when I sew it up. maybe I'll prewash a couple of times just to see what happens. BTW, I still think that the top looks amazing, and if the colors bled evenly and the top didn't shrink, you should totally wear it to bits!

Yes it was called buffalo check! Definitely prewash it a few times to see what happens. I'm curious to see how yours turns out.

I'm going to try and wash it this weekend.