lark tee – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

All About the Tees – Part 4

T-shirts, the backbone of most wardrobes. I’ve run up another few for my Autumn wardrobe. I had a couple of pieces of fabric from Closs & Hamblin in Winchester, I’d bought them at the beginning of August and didn’t want them to end up in the stash. I also had some bits in the stash, let’s be honest! Some are small bits that would have to be combined in some way, but one was big enough to fly solo.

grey uvita 1 — Uvita Top fromItch to Stitch

So when you have tees to make, what pattern do you use? I decided to use the Uvita Top from Itch to Stitch for a couple of 3/4 length sleeve tops. I had bought a metre and a bit of grey marl viscose jersey from the Winchester fabric shop, and this was the first piece to get the chop! It’s lovely and soft and has a beautiful drape. I like the Uvita, it’s quick to make and I like how it feels on.

grey uvita 2

grey uvita 3

The second Uvita is made using a different kind of jersey. I had some polyester ponte that I’d bought last year from Fabworks and used a bit to make a Sewaholic Fraser for Daughter no 2. I couldn’t decide what to do with the rest of it at the time, so into the stash it went. Now it’s the right time to get it made up. It’s interesting to see how different the tops are in the different fabric, I like it!

The ponte has way less drape and stretch than the viscose jersey, it feels more fitted than the others. I like the pattern, from a distance it almost looks like a grey marl, it has great visual texture. Because I was worried that the fabric would irritate my skin, I didn’t cut the neckband from the same stuff. I used a bit of plain black ponte left over from another project.

I know it’s probably a bit late to be making short sleeved tees now at the end of August, but in my defense, I had intended to make this immediately after I bought the fabric at the beginning of the month. Anyway, a white tee can’t go that wrong, can it? For this I used the Lark V-neck tee.

lark white 1

The fabric is a cotton jersey, so no drape and it’s quite crisp. I should probably have picked a straighter tee, the Birgitte from Maria Denmark would probably have worked better. This does tend to stand away from me when I wear it! But I’ve only worn it once, and it has time to soften… I’m really chuffed with the neckband, the instructions are the best for getting a sharp point.

lark white 2

lark white 3 — Worn with my grey and black stripe Saunio cardi and rust coloured cropped trousers

If you’re looking for some snuggly fabrics for Winter or Autumn tees/sweaters, Closs and Hamblin have really nice anti-pill polar fleece at good prices. I may just have ~~bought~~ persuaded the other half (when in Winchester on a business meeting) to buy me a couple of metres to make more Toaster Sweaters for the girls…

It’s all About the Tees – Part II

More T-shirts! These are the first of the “new to me” patterns. I’ll start with the Grainline Lark Tee. I bought this pattern a year or so ago, but have only made one tee from it, and that was for a friend! I had the PDF pattern, and sent the copyshop off to the other half to print for me at the office on their nice big plotter. It was about time to use the pattern for myself, I went with the short sleeve, v-neck version.

I traced the 12, based on my high bust measurement, and made a FBA as described on Maria Denmark’s website. There’s only one thing that’s constantly bugging me, there is a fold of fabric that ends up looking like I need to dart it out at the armhole. I have already done that in paper, but the little bugger is still there! Any tips, tee shirt gurus?? The fabric for this one came from the NEC, I forget exactly which stall. I love the graduated sizes of the white and black stripes, it’s a viscose/modal jersey, soft and drapey and lovely to wear.

stripe lark 3

I’m really happy with how it all turned out, I have to admit I was a little worried going with such a “small” size! But it worked! The sleeves are the perfect length, and I like the fit on the body, especially the looseness around the waist and hips. The instructions are pretty good, the neckband went in very well too. I just need to remember the seam allowance on this pattern is very, very small, only 6mm! I forgot that on the first seam, and sewed the shoulders at 1cm instead… It doesn’t seem to have done any damage, even the sleeve head went in ok.

stripe lark 2

The second tee for today is one I know I will be making loads more of! I downloaded the Basic Instinct Tee from Sasha at SecondoPiano – finally!! I’d seen lots of versions of the tee on Instagram (just search the hastag #basicinstincttee) and really liked the relaxed fit that everyone was achieving. While a fitted tee is great, I like a loose one more for the summer. I had one more blue and white striped jersey from Montreux Fabric to use, this one has a cool double thin white stripe on a navy blue ground. The fibre content is polyester/viscose, I try not to buy polyester, but the stripe was too good to pass up!

Sasha has written brilliant instructions, and has spent a lot of time making sure her tee can be made with lots of different stripe patterns, and that those stripes will line up everywhere. If you take the time to do it.. I have to hang my head and say I ignored those bits of the pattern and instructions and just ploughed on (I really really wanted to wear this tee – fast). I promise that the next one I do I will definitely follow the stripe matching instructions. The pattern is simple, round neck, short sleeves and relaxed, loose fit throughout. It’s incredibly comfortable! I don’t usually go for high necklines like this, I don’t like the feel of fabric so close to my neck, but this is just fine, even for a fusspot like me!

stripe instinct 2

I made the XL, no FBA, no adjustments – next time I think I’ll size down, see how it goes. It all went together incredibly well, great instructions and very well drafted pattern. I highly recommend this pattern, subscribe and you’re in business! This is the perfect pattern for allotment tees, the loose fit means more comfort in the heat & the round neck keeps the sun off me. I have to make lots and lots more! Thanks Sasha, for a brilliant little tee pattern!

stripe instinct 1 — There they go again, I just cannot keep my hands out of my pockets!

I have one more tee to show off, and I still cannot decide on my favourite! I think I might need to get a few plain coloured tops now though, there are enough stripes! What’s your favourite t-shirt pattern to make?

Shout to the Top

Take a bag of fabric scraps and a simple pattern, no small amount of time and fiddling and you’re rewarded with a pretty unique item of clothing. I’d wanted to make a tee from the different white and blue pieces of jersey in the scrapbag for ages, inspired by a tee from a Burda magazine from a couple of years ago.

I decided to make the Lark Tee, traced the 4 with slightly widened shoulders, moving to the 2 at the waist and then out to the 6 for the hip. This was to be for a friend. I started by tracing the outline of the tee from the pattern art/line drawings and playing around with placement of the different prints.

wp-image-955800533 — Trying out different pattern placements

It needed to be done hand in hand with checking the actual amounts of the different fabrics, no point in deciding to do a large panel and finding out later there was only enough for a neckband! Once I decided I’d have enough of each of the pieces to do the required panels, I started blocking off the traced pattern, making sure each piece had a grainline and was labelled with the intended fabric. I also marked the top and bottom of each piece. The fronts and backs were cut separately. There were two types of blue and white stripe, a solid navy blue and a piece of navy blue with randomly placed white blocks. As each piece was cut I pinned and sewed, making a full front and back.

wp-image-137056252 — On the left are the pieces for the back, front pieces on the right with the sleeve in the middle and the neckband on the top front panel

I’d have liked to have been able to have more of the solid blue, but as I told myself I was only using what I had this is the result. I’m pretty chuffed with it, for a pretty much free tee, can it get better? Afterall, I’ve used the narrow stripe on 3 other tees, and the solid blue on two. That pile of stuff on the right of the above photo is what was left once I’d finished cutting! Not too shabby!!

wp-image-364878247 — The finished tee, modeled by Betty.

I haven’t been able to persuade my friend to show it off herself yet, so Betty will have to do. It’s a little baggy on her as she hasn’t the same shape.

navy lark tee 3 — Left side with the wide stripes running round from front to back

navy lark tee 2 — Right side with narrow stripes matching

navy lark tee 4 — Last, but not least, the back!

Now that this has turned out so well, I’m keen to make another – but for me this time! It’ll join the sewing queue, so it might be a while before I’m showing it off! I have just finished my Morgan Jeans today, so perhaps their blog post will be ready mid September…

What’s on your sewing table for the weekend?

Fade to Grey

I’ve been making lots of grey items this year, it’s a colour I really like, especially for the winter. It’s going to be overtaken by blue for the spring and summer soon! Back in January, or maybe even February, I finally made the Lark Tee. It had been on the list to make last Spring, then bumped to Autumn, and now it’s finally done.

The fabric is a pale silvery grey viscose jersey from Croft Mill Fabric, also bought early last year. It is lovely and soft, with good drape. I used the copy shop version of the Grainline Studio pattern, this being the first pattern from Grainline that I’ve made. I chose the scoop neckline with three quarter sleeves. I made a 3cm FBA, which I now think I could have done without in the size I made – either that or add the FBA to the smaller size.

The instructions are clear and concise, there’s not much to making a tee really! The shoulder seams were stabilised with iron on tape, and I feel that this fabric could have done with something on the neckline too, but not the iron on stuff, it makes it too stiff. But without any stabilisation the neckline tends to drift downwards during the day. Fabric with good drape will droop!

This is also the first time I’ve attempted blog photos myself. Without any daughters at home and a hubby who just doesn’t “get” what I’m trying for, I’ve tried doing the photos on the self timer on my phone. Nothing like taking millions of pics of yourself to make you feel self-conscious and a bit silly!

Another top that had been on the sewing list for a while is from last February’s Burda magazine (103 2/16), it has a hi-low hem, woven in the back and jersey in front and on the sleeves. I had thought it would be good in a linen jersey that I got from Ditto Fabrics, either last year or the one before, with some silk left over from a previous project on the back. But before I committed my nice linen jersey, I definitely wanted a toile!!

I cut the 44, adding a small FBA, and due to fabric shortages had to cut a yoke for the back, with the pleat falling from that, rather than from just below the neckline.

I’m fairly chuffed with it, probably will shorten the back hem a bit, you end up sitting on it so it gets all creased and crumpled – not a good look in pretty silk. I’d also need to enlarge the sleeve in the bicep area for the linen jersey. In this pale grey from Fancy Silks in Birmingham, the sleeve is ok, there is enough stretch, but the linen hasn’t got as much give. I need to drop the darts a couple of centimetres and might also make the FBA a little bigger – just in case! It must be right for the linen and silk!

I’ve worn this top loads since it was finished back in early-mid March, so that must mean it’s a successful toile – and very wearable!

I’ve managed a few more self-timer photos of some other tops made this month, hopefully they’ll be online soon. I want to make a pair of Morgan Jeans for the summer, started a toile this week which wasn’t altogether great, so I’m working out the gremlins there. I already have the fabric – bought it last year with the pattern when it first came out…..