Last week I told you about the shirt frenzy I’ve been under lately, cutting out the patterns for 3 shirts in one day! Well, I actually got one finished!
I did exactly as Design-It-Yourself Clothes spelled it out, and it worked! Check this out:
Rah! The most awesome shirt ever! It was a little too big in the shoulders and sides. In the book they talk about how, depending on the knit fabric, you might need some negative ease–I definitely did. I took in the sides and arm holes about 1 inch.
I am so excited that my sleeves actually fit into my arm holes, perfect!
I love my new shirt. I’m going to grossly admit to wearing it just about non stop since this weekend, haha. Okay, so I’ve washed it, not completely gross, maybe just without a little fashion conscious. I always hated the “different outfit each day” rule in high school. I’ll wear what I want…just so long as it’s clean, right? :)
One question I did get asked a lot while working on this shirt was, “Isn’t that a lot of work?” Well, honestly, not really. Think about the last time you found the “perfect” shirt in the store. How many shopping trips did that take? For me, I usually come back dry, no luck. Loads of trying clothes on. Something always wrong–the fit, the pattern, the style, bah.
If you make your own shirt with the pattern drafted for you, tried and true with unique variations, it doesn’t take that long at all. This knit shirt that I love? Three hours! Most likely it’ll be less time on the next go around. I won’t be altering it as I go along because I’ve corrected my basic pattern.
So three hours of fun sewing vs. countless hours of shopping and trying things on with no guarantee you will end up with anything for your efforts.
Oh, not to mention that the cash cost is less. You can get high quality fabric and designer styles for a fraction of the cash. Which is awesome for me because cash is something more sparse than time right now.
Happy stitching!
Kristin Roach
p.s. You can thank Jason for the photos.
You are the cutest person of all time. And your shirt came out stellar! So impressed with you drafting your own pattern and everything.
You’re absolutely right about bought things not fitting – we’ve all got so used to it over the years that we simply complain without taking action. Thank you for a salutary reminder1
It suits you. It looks like a “Kristin” shirt. Great job.
looks great kristin! another tip is to put a piece of twill tape, ribbon or even woven fabric along the shoulder seams while you sew them, to keep them from stretching out. or make the pattern smaller as you did. your neckline looks fab too– that’s often the hardest part. love your thermal!