Toasties - the countdown to Christmas

[Countmeout]

Just getting a thread ready.

I agree @faustina about the sales and the whole black Friday thing seemed to last for about 2 months!

That made me laugh@IlovePond

@IlovePond 😍🤣

@faustina - card here too (and no hidden discount code), Nice card.

Hi guys, I can’t believe I woke up and, still half asleep, told you all my dream 😹😹😹

🤞for a lovely sale! Toast usually start the sale as soon as the last date for Xmas post has been and gone, so my money is any time from 5pm 21/12 onwards. My money would be on Monday 23/12, but who knows???

The secret discount code hidden in the Kindred festive card can only be seen by the flickering glow of a hand-thrown tealight lamp held aloft at dusk whilst you are perched halfway up a randomly-placed ladder wearing your favourite Toast dress. It is known.

It can also be seen if you inexplicably carry the right combination of bizarre objets from room to room whilst creatively layering at least 3 Toast garments. However, as your hands are full, you cannot also carry the card to view the fleetingly revealed code, so this is wholly unhelpful.

(Beware the deKindredfolk making mischief :)

@Stravaig I've got the festive card too, I shall be trying these later 🙏😁

My indigo shirt arrived today, creased as all toast offerings currently are, but I really like it. The 12 is plenty big enough with no gaping. The material is thicker than the usual shirts but not really heavy weight. There will definitely be some colour rub as the care label is already heavily marked, but it is a keeper.

That’s lovely @Theteapotsbrokenspout

😹@Stravaig - no Kindred card for me, but I did get a lovely letter from the tax office blithely announcing that I owe them lots of money due to their inability to correctly assess my tax and ‘Merry Christmas to you, too!’ Grrh - bah humbug!

@IlovePond - message me your address and I'll send you my card. If it can magic up a Toast discount, then I'm sure fi you perform the correct rituals (see @Stravaig 's instructions) it'll see off HMRC as well.

@Theteapotsbrokenspout - thanks for the pic - very useful to know. It does look more shirty than jackety which is what I was hoping to wear it as. Lovely rich colour

@faustina It is a lovely colour, just hoping it doesn't fade too much.

Hi @faustina - thanks! My Toast card has arrived. I may actually put it up as no one sends me cards anymore, but it’s a bit of a meh colour. They could have gone more festive, but I suppose it’s the thought that counts!

Yet another email today from Toast - this one I actually opened because - nightwear!

I love those orange/cream pjs and the matching nightie - they’ve gone straight onto my wish list!

I ordered the new white oversized Oxford shirt which I had tried in store last week. Went down a size which is better for layering. But….why can Toast not do collars right? The shirt I tried in store, and the one that has arrived today both have one side of the collar which sticks out at a different angle. I have tried and not bought quite a few shirts and dresses over the years because of this. I don’t understand it, and I’m starting to wonder if I have a weirdly lopsided neck.
The shirt is great otherwise, and a better fit for me than the Taro one. Given that I also prefer a collarless shirt, I’m wondering if I could just remove the collar. I know I can do it in terms of sewing skills, but can anyone who knows about shirts/collars/tailoring tell me if there’s a reason I shouldn’t do this? Is the collar essentially just added to what would be a collarless shirt without it, or will it look weird/too high?

I think at that price @ScottishMouse it shouldn’t be beyond Toast to make the collars sit equally straight on both sides.

There used to be a sewing expert on these threads - I can’t remember her username, but she would know exactly what was going wrong and why. (I miss her expertise!)

Nice shirt, though!

Relatedly, I know that men’s formal shirt sizing goes on the neck measurement though I have never understood how this works - don’t some men have necks that are quite thin or thick compared to the rest of their body? Anyhow, would you say that a shirt doesn’t fit on a woman if it is too tight at the neck? As you can see in the photo above, the shirt closes on the top button but only just and I would never wear it closed as it is very tight. Does that mean I’d be better with the bigger size? Or does that only go for men’s dress shirts that need to be buttoned right up? Or have I got too much time on my hands this afternoon if I am sitting about pondering such things?

Right @IlovePond ?! It sounds like an easy find, but I have been searching for a good white shirt for ages and ages and this one is otherwise spot on, so I may reorder to see if I can get one that sits better or perhaps remove the collar altogether.
Trying to remember who the sewing expert was….are you still here??

Someone on here might remember her username @ScottishMouse - I think she taught needlecraft. She used to give really interesting breakdowns of stitches/techniques and where Toast were doing it right/wrong.

I know what you mean about men’s collar sizes - I think it’s because of the whole wearing a tie thing so, if leaving the top button open, it doesn’t apply.

What does the shirt look like open? Does the collar still look/feel wonky? If not, I wouldn’t worry about it and just keep as is.

It doesn’t look as wonky open, but I am still aware of it (I’m picky and get annoyed by such things though).

Not sure who you're thinking of, but I still remember the clever sun-ray bodice insert that @dudsville did, and @laska2meryls was doing some cross-stitch embroidery joining two fairisle scarves when she was last around. I think there was someone else with deft fingers too?

Caveat! Long Covid ate my brain, so it's possible even likely that I have details and names misassigned or entirely wrong. Apologies all around if so!

Ofc, these folks may still be here, reading along, but using a different name :D

I’ve been lurking on this thread for a while, but never posted before in spite of receiving 3 Toast orders over the last two weeks….

I make a lot of my own clothes and use Toast mainly for inspiration. Shirts are my favourite thing to make, so I’m fairly confident about what’s causing this particular issue @ScottishMouse. Shirt making requires not just precision sewing, but also precision cutting of the fabric. In this particular case it looks like the collar is cut too long for the neckband. It’s only out by a millimetres or two, but that’s enough to create either a gap, or a tiny overlap as is happening in this case. It’s the overlap that ends up pushing out one side of the collar more than the other and creates this unevenness.

As a home sewist I’d always check for gaps and overlaps before finalising the collar. I guess machinists would just trust that the collar has been cut to the right length and wouldn’t notice the issue unless they actually button up the shirt.

What I can’t make sense of though is the bubble/fold at the top of the button placket. That shouldn’t be there, but I noticed it’s also visible on the product photos on the website, so it’s definitely not caused by the way this shirt fits you. There’s something else going on!

To answer your question, yes you can remove the collar as long as you keep the collar stand (like a grandad shirt). You can’t remove the collar stand, as that would require major changes to the way the body of the fabric has been cut.

Personally, I would send this one back. As it’s a white shirt, any errors are just very noticeable.

Well this is genius information @RainOnTins thank you so much for taking the time to explain. I’m glad to hear I’m not wonky! I will try reordering and see what I get, but I’m not overly confident because, as I say, I have had issues with Toast collars previously.
I am very in awe of your sewing skills, I have very basic ones, but a shirt sounds so tricky.

Thanks @RainOnTins

@ScottishMouse I think Toast collars are often very tight and ill fitting . I’ve a couple of shirts that feel like they’re strangling me and I’ve a very thin scrawny neck . It has never happened with other makes….I go back to Toast for the lovely styles and colours .
I hope your next try on that shirt is better because it’s generally so nice on you,

Yes, I have found the same with their shirts sometimes @OftenOrange although my neck is no longer that skinny (see photo!). I’m going to try again as I love it otherwise. Will report back.

I think someone with user name similar to @clowniform used to give expert tailoring advice on earlier threads. Does this name ring a bell ?