A new Tee

Time for a new T-shirt.  I'm not much of a T-shirt wearer.  That is, your typical T.  Like you get at a concert.  Or Walmart.  The whole crew neck, straight sides, no shape thing does nothing for me.  I've never liked them and whenever I've gotten one for whatever reason, I usually leave it in a drawer.
However, interesting T shirts I like.  Different shaping, sleeve and neckline variations.  That I like.

At PR weekend, I picked up this pattern from the pattern exchange.  I like Marcy Tilton designs for the most part, and this is just a basic T, but there was something I liked about it.    I've been wanting to make a T shirt with lace sleeves and the other day I found the perfect green interlock at JoAnns.  I've had some green print lace that I haven't known what to do with, so this seemed like a good combo.


I did not want to go overboard on alterations on this thing, so I traced out a 10 and just continued out to a 14 at the underarm and kept it down to the hip.  I did bring in the waist about 1/4".  There was already waist shaping, so I just added a little more.  Also, because I did not want to add a dart, I extended the CF down at the hem about 1" and tapered up at the side.  I made a straight 10 for the back down to the waist, and the went out to a 14 at the hip.

My stretch lace had a little less stretch than I had remembered, so the sleeves were tight.  I reduced the seam allowance to 1/4" on the sleeves and now they are a lot more comfortable.   Another problem I always have with tops is that they are too big in the neck.  If I go down too far in size, they are too tight in the armholes and across the back.  I suppose I have what is called a shallow upper chest.  It does not help that I have a DD bust, so the combination of the two makes fit a little challenging.  What I did was to take a dart at the CF as you can see in the picture below.  What I didn't think of was that since these are raglan sleeves, it would have been easier to take that dart out at the sleeve, and then it would not interfere with the bust sizing.  Next time I will add that CF dart back in and take it out at the front sleeve seam.

Vogue 8636

I did take some out of the neck band to match up with what I did at CF.  I could have taken out even more, since I did not have to stretch my neckband much to make it fit.  This means that the front (and back) of the band were gapping a little bit.  In the pattern they recommend that you take small darts, and that is exactly what I did.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this top.  I want to make another right away in a striped knit I have.  Besides, the lace sleeves are a little airy when it is chilly outside!

stretch lace for sleeves and neckband

darts at neckline under lace

And, for Me Made May?  I was speaking in church today about my trip to Uganda.  Some of you know, I do mission trips to Uganda teaching women how to sew.  I am planning my next trip for September 2015.  I am looking for a few people to go with me.  If you are a Believer, and think you might be interested, please start praying about if this is something God would have you do.  I would love to have some fellow sewists join me!  You can email me for more information at nwinningham at gmail dot com.

So I wore this linen blend dress made from the Japanese book, Basic Black.  The belt and necklace were made by some ladies in Uganda and I love them!