I know it’s the new year and all, but I have a little catching up to do! In 2017 I made quite a few Christmas presents, but this time I limited myself just a little bit. I made two black tees for Daughter No1 who wanted some tee shirts that weren’t too fitted, and I went for black because you can always wear a black tee! And because I already happened to have 3m of black viscose jersey in the stash…
I chose to make a long sleeved, scoop neck Renfrew by Sewaholic first. This pattern has been adjusted with a swayback adjustment already, and this is her favourite neckline on a tee. The long sleeves are the perfect length with the cuffs on, and she likes the way it makes the tee feel a little like a sweatshirt. I leave the hemband off this pattern when making for Daughter No1, the length is fine without it and she prefers it that way.
The second pattern I used is the Uvita Top, the free pattern on offer from Itch to Stitch. I’ve made a few for myself so thought it would be perfect for her too. Overall, it got the approving nod, but with a few requests for next time. (At least there will be a next time!) I need to narrow the sleeves a fair bit and flare the side seams out a bit over the hips. Not too long a list! 🙂
I also ran up a couple of Toaster Sweaters. I know how much both girls like them, so made them one each using the fleece blankets from Asda, again. I had bought two two-packs earlier in December, I needed the mustard colour for backing some quilted fabric I bought from a charity shop to make throws. So I was left with two grey and white chevron blankets – perfect Toaster fabric!
Unfortunately, I did not check the direction of stretch….. It ran (runs) perpendicular to the chevron pattern. Now that’s something I didn’t even consider! So I had already made Daughter No1’s Toaster with the chevrons running around the body, and against the stretch before realising. Daughter No2’s chevrons run up and down, and the stretch is in the right direction. Oh dear… Nevermind, they still work.
I ran out of time to make a tee for Daughter No2 out of the rest of the black jersey. She was after a raglan tee. I found one in a Burda magazine and will get that done this month – hopefully!
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS 