The T-shirt Project #6: Jalie wins every time

Whew, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted.  We had a good time at my in-laws in super ultra northern CA after the massive road trip that it requires to get to them which included a stop in the Bay area for a Giants’ game (so fun) and some good fabric shopping at Stone Mountain and Daughter and Eureka Fabrics.  I won’t take the time to sort out my purchases–you’ll see them as I sew them up I’m sure.

Back at home, it’s taken me a couple of weeks to get back in the swing of things, but yesterday I was able to crank out a badly needed tee.  To boot, I’m back on track for the t-shirt project!

I’ve been eyeing Jalie’s Criss Cross top pattern for a long time.  Years probably.  I love anything mock wraplike in nature, and the x design is really flattering.  I loved it so much that cheap me decided to “replicate” it in New Look 6729

It has a similar look–the x design across the front, but it’s a cut-on sleeve, and as I found out when I made this version, the smallest size is too wide for me across the shoulder, and the side seams have an absurd amount of ease.  The criss cross was all droopy, it didn’t cover the gap in the underlayer, and I had to put in a little triangle because it crossed too low.  I remember taking the side seams in about 4″ to help the drooping issue and even then, they flare out at the hips considerably.  I didn’t even write about this top when I made it about a year ago it was so weird.  I first considered it a wadder, but it’s worked out well for me as a maternity top.  In fact, the silly side seams have so much ease that I’m comfortably wearing this at nearly 24 weeks pregnant no problem even after my 4″ seam monkeying, and I could still pinch out about 4″ of flare from the hips.  And the X still sits funny.

What did we learn here, people?  Jalie makes better t-shirt patterns.  Period.  Is it annoying that I have to order them and pay like $12/each one instead of making a quick stop to JoAnn’s and getting a pattern for 99 cents?  You bet, but in the end, I use my Jalies so much and the fit is so great that I’m starting to think that all of those “cheap” patterns are not that great of a value.

So in thinking about PR’s Mini-Wardrobe Contest (my favorite contest!), I decided to invest in another Jalie.  I had this cool lightweight cotton crepe blend knit stripe in this pebbled peachy strawberry sherbet color in the stash.  I wanted to make a longer sleeve out of it (not the bell in the pattern but the straight 3/4 from Jalie 2921 as bell sleeves are not my thang), but I was short on fabric.  After some fussy laying out, I did have enough for the flutter sleeve that’s included in the pattern.  Sadly, I should have cut the sleeve in a single layer because I tried to do so in a double layer, I got about 80% through before I realized that one sleeve would have a massive hole in the middle of it.  I had just enough to eek out a cap sleeve from my scraps.  I borrowed the sleeve from Jalie 2921 after a quick comparison of the armscye (it’s the same, so mix and match away).

The lower front piece is not seamed to the top but simply tacked to the bottom cross piece.  Elastic holds it tight against your middle and the crossover more than covers everything.  I stayed true to my Q (32) size in the shoulders and neck and went up to an S (36) below the armscye typical.  Over my pregnancies, I’ve come to understand that the 32 never ever moves and that my starting point needs to be just one size up below the armscye.  I will need to add to the lower front obviously and maybe the bust as I progress, but for now, my sizing is pretty right on.

I changed up my maternity altering on the lower front.  I’ve always used this tutorial from Rostitchery for altering for the bump.  This tutorial is absolutely fine as long as you don’t need to add all that much.  When you start needing to add say over 1″ in the method she describes, what happens is that the side seams can kind of just tent out.  Yes, you have enough to cover your middle, but the fabric just isn’t distributed all that well.

Sandra Betzina had an alternative method on Episode 108 of Power Sewing (do you all know that you can buy individual episodes now?  Wish that was an option when I subscribed–maybe it was and I didn’t realize it…).  Instead of just adding near the side seam as in the Rostitchery alteration, she has you distribute what you need in several different slices across the front.  If I stop to think about it, this makes a lot more sense…the bump is not happening at the side seams, it’s really all in front, so why am I adding inches upon inches at the side seams?  No wonder I look back at my later maternity tops from #2 and think, man that looks kind of schmoopy.

So this time, I sliced up my lower front pattern in 3 different places parallel to CF and added 1/2″ in each section at the hem (looking like little triangular wedges).  The bonus of doing it this way is that you have not much distortion when you go to true up the bottom.  At the end of the day, I’m loving this top and it is definitely going to pop up in other flavors in the next couple of months.

My full review is here.

Do giraffes have more fun?

I’m not an animal print girl.  Mostly I think it’s that there’s a whole lotta gross poly that gets unfortunately printed with animal prints, so the effect is kind of cheap, but also the colorways for most cheetah and tiger prints are not terribly appealing to me.  They almost always involve black (I’m sure I’m allergic to black), and if there’s other colors at play, they seem juvenile.

But consistently, I feel like I come across two animals that are more free-spirited.  Zebra prints and giraffe prints almost always involve great color combos.

Mint and grey zebra?–of course!  Or maybe some of these prints from fabric.com:

This green giraffe print was a serious contender for drapes in our dining room before Mood ran out of it and I discovered I could buy it elsewhere for like 1/3 the price (in the end I settled on something with the same colors but a more geometric print).

Is it that being gentler vegetarian types, fabric designers are more inspired to make their prints just a little less edgy?  Or maybe giraffes and zebras simply have more fun?

At any rate, when I saw this navy and white ITY giraffe print a couple of weeks ago at Denver Fabrics, it leaped into my cart, having introduced itself first as a lively, swishy skirt.  As I look at the photo of it though now, I have to think that it’s a little more geometric than a lot of giraffe prints, but I still think it looks kind of giraffey even if it’s a little squarer…Robot giraffe.

The pattern is Ottobre 2-2009-11, a simple knit trumpet skirt with an elastic waist.  I figured it’s perfect for my pregnancy.  I gave myself wide SAs because I love this print enough to deconstruct the waistband and take things in to give it another life after I get down to my regular weight again.  This’ll be a fantastic wardrobe basic for me through the fall, and I’m looking forward to combining it with other things in my closet.  I think there’s little that it won’t work with.

It’s 10 gores, so it takes a bit of time to cut out, but it’s one of those brainless projects that comes together in no time.  If I hadn’t been fitting a little, the construction time is about 25 minutes.

It does however take a chunk of time to hem this skirt.  All those gores make for a lot of fussiness in pressing the curves.  Otto leaves you a 3/4″ hem allowance, but I’d say, cut off a little, use some Steam-a-Seam and call it good.  Pressing up 3/4″ is nearly impossible with the curves.  I used 1/4″ S-A-S and pressed twice which was annoyingly boring and time consuming, but effective.  1/2″ would save you a little time, but I’m not sure if pressing up 1/2″ would work.

Since I was using ITY, I opted for Steam-A-Seam in the hem to stabilize it and keep it in place while I was hemming.  I love this finish for ITY because it keeps the hem crisp, but because ITY is poly anyhow, that crispness doesn’t feel weird like it can in natural fabrics.  It also helps the hem hang really nicely.  Have I endorsed Steam-A-Seam enough here?

What’s your opinion on animal prints?  Do they speak to the depths of your soul?  Are there some that make you shudder and others that make you dance?

My full review of the skirt is here.

The T-shirt Project #5: Boden Printed Summer Vest

As I alluded to in my call for patternmaking resources (I’m still all ears), this t-shirt proved to be an exercise in pointing out that I need to know more about patternmaking.  My construction is good, but slashing at will won’t really create the gathered sections like I had hoped (note the dimple, not the gathers at CF on the lower front).

Nonetheless, this shirt is far from being a total loss.  Am I annoyed that it doesn’t look precisely like my inspiration tee?  Yes.  Is anyone else going to notice but me?  No, except I’m pointing it out to you possibly because I know you all can sympathize with not being able to make something as you have it in your head.  I’ve corrected what I did in the directions below from what I did initially with the two gathered chunks as I think I know how to accomplish what I was attempting, but someone correct me if needs be.

**As for preliminaries on this project, you’ll need to use a jersey that is not 100% synthetic.  All of those pleats at the neckline means that you’ll have to press a lot to get nice looking trim.  ITY will NOT work for this top because it won’t hold a press long enough to be secured in a pleat.  I’m using a medium weight rayon spandex blend of some variety from Denver Fabrics.  It’s dense with awesome recovery and a soft hand.  If you’re not sure about what’s in your fabric, just press a little chunk of it and see if it holds a pleat.**

Boden Printed Summer vest

Prepping your front:

1.  Using your favorite t-shirt pattern, trace off a copy of your front.  Adjust the neckline if necessary to be more of a scoopneck (in my case, my base pattern, Jalie 2921 is a v-neck, so I matched up CF and seam lines and traced off the neckline only of Ottobre 5-2007-5, a scoopneck tee).  Aleah’s Simplicity 2394 is a perfect choice for this tee.  All you’d need to do to this pattern is add the empire line, sub binding for the pattern’s neck band and go on to step 3.  The tank in Simplicity 2603 also could work with the same alterations.

2.  Add a 1″ strip from CF to the hem of the now lower front.  Mark the top edge of the strip (closer to the side seam) with a star so that you know where to put your gathering stitches later.  Your CF fold is now the inner edge of the strip.

3.  Wearing whatever version of your base tee you’ve previously made, determine where you want the empire seam to be (hint, you want it below the girls–I measured from CF to the base of my bra to get an idea).  Make a line perpendicular to CF at this level and split your pattern apart.  You can skip this part if you hate empire seams.  I understand.  98% of the time I hate them too.  If you are full-busted, please take the time to add extra length over the bust points–you can do this via some sort of FBA or by curving the seam like I described in the Toulouse Tee.

4.  Split apart your pattern along the empire line you’ve drawn, adding 2 more stars to help you remember where you need to stop gathering at the bottom edge of the upper front and the top of the lower front and 1″ in from CF, just as the first star was in step 2.  Add seam allowances to each of these sections and you’re good to go as far as the drafting is concerned.  On to construction.

Constructing the front:

The bulk of your work in this tee is obviously the pleated section at the neckline.  This is a good time to make nice with your iron.  The two of you are a team.  Together you can create lovely crispness, so relax, and enjoy the process because it’ll take a little time.

1.  When you cut out your front pieces, make a tiny clip at the stars and at CF.  Make gathering stitches from clip to clip on the top and bottom of your upper front across CF and from clip to clip across CF on the top of your lower front.  I run 3 rows of 5.0 length straight stitches, but 2 rows is adequate.

2.  Pull up the gathering stitches where you’ve put them.  Adjust the gathers as needed and sew the top edge of the lower front to the lower edge of the upper front.

3.  Cut out a strip of binding for the front and the back (I’d love to be able to do this in one step, but the pleated section is sewn into the shoulder seam, not an after-the fact embellishment, so you have to bind front and backs separately) whatever width you usually prefer.  For me, I used 1.5″ X the length of the neckline seam on the front and back – 10% of that length.

2.  Fold your binding strips long raw edge to long raw edge and press.  Bind the back neck you would normally (I fold my binding in half, clip it at the half point, match it to CB and stretch to fit while sewing.  Then I press, flip completely to the inside, and topstitch it down).

3.  Bind the front neck except don’t topstitch it into place.  Instead, sew, flip to the inside and baste the folded edge close to the fold so that the binding stays in place.  I did this by hand because I find it easier to pull out the basting stitches later.

4.  Pleat time!:  Cut a crossgrain strip of fabric 1.5″X the width of your fabric.  Mine was 62″ wide, and I used maybe 56ish in the end.  Lay the piece on your ironing board upside down and the length of the board and fold little even pleats around 3/8″ tall, pressing every third or fourth pleat.  Continue until you’ve pleated the whole strip.  Take a breath.  Enjoy the beauty you just created.

5.  Cheat or be anal  detail-oriented–choose your own adventure:  you pleated the strip upside down because if you want, you can secure the pleats in place with 2 strips of Steam-A-Seam close to the edges.  If you want to do it this way, iron them in place.  Otherwise, hand baste the pleats down adjusting and re-pressing as you need to.  I did both because I’m a type A (+).  I know it takes extra time, but you will get a nicer result if you hand-baste.

6.  Secure the pleated strip:  Remove the Steam-A-Seam from the back of the strip.  Lay down the pleated strip along the finished edge of the neckline, overlapping the strip slightly over the edge, and letting any extra length alone at the top of the shoulders for now.  Fuse the strip down.  Topstitch 1/4″-3/8″ from the neck edge, keeping the pleated section on top as you sew.  Topstitch the other raw edge of the strip, letting the outer edge of your presser foot glide along the raw edge itself–this will give you a consistent width as you topstitch.  Cut off any extra length in the strip that you may have at the top of each shoulder.

7.  Construct the rest of the tee as normal.

The T-Shirt Project #4: Madewell Toulouse Tee

Okay, playing catch-up here, here’s #4 and #5 will come tomorrow if I’m not too tired.  Then I should be on track for my one a month tee count so far for the project.

I was taken by Madewell’s Toulouse tee some months ago.

I love the tabs on the sleeves and the hidden button placket.  What I came to discover through zooming was a lowered waist seam on the front.  The cool thing about this is that you can sew on the placket pieces on each upper front, then overlap them and sew them as one into the lower front.  It’s cool because it’s difficult to get plackets lay flat on polo necklines–the bottom is always a tricky biscuit of a corner.

The original is made with a linen knit–kind of hard to find for the home sewist, but a fiber that seems popular in RTW right now.  Harts’ Fabric has some, but it’s quite spendy at $24/yd, and the 85/15 linen poly blend at $9/yd would seem to negate the beauty and breathability of the linen.  I saw some linen knit at Santa Fe Fabrics, and while totally beautiful, it was sheer.  Grr sheer.

I opted instead for a Grecian blue rayon knit with lots of beautiful drape.  I should have stabilized the neckline and shoulder seams though as they stretched a bit.  So unfortunately I have the unintentional cowl thing going on again, so while it’s less dramatic, it’s still annoying.  The buttons in the placket are hidden when pressed, but it came out of the dryer all squidgy…you can see how motivated I was to fix it.

My base pattern for this copy is Maria’s Kirsten Kimono Sleeve tee.  I brought in the shoulder by an inch on the neck edge as I needed more coverage.  If I had stabilized my neckline, I think it would have worked out well.  After you’ve morphed it into the Toulouse, it’ll look like this (except I have 5 buttons on my placket, not the 4 in my little drawing)

To split the front section into 2 pieces like the Madewell tee, decide where you want the bottom of your placket to be along CF.  Draw a line, curved if you want (I made a gentle downward curve towards the side seam with my French curve) or perpendicular to CF if you prefer (if you’re full busted, the curve will actually give you a little more length, something I wish I had done on t-shirt #5, but you’ll see that later).  Split apart the pattern along this line and add a SA on either side of the split.

To the top part of the front, I subtracted 1/2″ to accommodate the button placket.  I added the placket from Burda 12/2009/121, but if you want to add a placket to a tee, use whatever tee pattern you like, then draw a line parallel to CF and 1/2″ from CF and 10.75″  long.  The dimensions of the placket itself are: 1 7/8″ X 10 3/4″, then add seam allowances (I like 1/” because I can serge it).  Also, the placket will be folded in half and in the half of the half is the new CF.  That’s it.  

For button tabs, cut 2 pieces 2″ X 9″.

To construct:

Cut out 3 plackets, interface 1 completely with a lightweight knit fusible interfacing.  Press the plackets along the foldlines and make your buttonholes (I made 5) on the interfaced placket.  Layer one placket on top of your buttonholed placket and baste the folded edges together.

Plain placket facing the right side of the right front, sew the doubled placket to the right front (I sewed, then serged to be extra sure, but of course you can just serge).

Sew the other placket to the left front.  Crossing right over left, layer the plackets on top of each other and baste together.  Sew the lower front onto the fronts, matching CF.  As I said, the cool part is that the bottom of the placket is sewn into the waist seam, so no little funny puckers because you’re not an expert in sewing plackets!  Construct the rest of the tee per normal.

The Madewell tee has a collar band instead of a binding.  This of course looks much better than a binding, but if you’re not up for drafting a separate piece (I wasn’t) you can just turn your binding in so that it’s hidden.

The only other detail is the sleeve tabs.  Interface the tabs entirely, then fold the piece so that they measure 2″X4.5″.  Cut out an A shape on the raw edge, then sew a 1/4″ seam around the edges.  Turn the tabs and press.  Add a buttonhole in each 1/2″ from the point of your A.

When you go to hem the sleeves, sew the tabs into the hem, with the raw edge on the inside of the hem so that the tab will fold up and around the hem when you’re done hemming.  Add buttons along the shoulder seam and you’re done.