Monday, January 1, 2018

Stripey t-shirt



Happy New Year!

I did it!  I signed up for the RTW Fast!  I thought I’d missed the boat, but Sarah extended the invitation through to-day, and after much hemming and hawing I did it.  So what was my big hang-up you might ask?  The part where you need to send a photo.  You know I prefer dummy pictures.  I am the most unphotogenic person on the planet.  I do a great job of hacking off my head, should picture taking day also be a bad face day.  Well, I got over it.  I found the best picture on the computer that I had, cropped to only my head, which made for a rather blurry picture, but probably improves the look.  Done.  (I also first e-mailed my son to get his opinion on the picture, and it passed muster.  Insecurity issues?)
So - while everyone else is tallying up their year’s accomplishments, I’ll just plow ahead with items that have yet to make it to this blog.  I was going to catch up by year’s end, but obviously that didn’t happen.
We’ll skip over the rest of the summer stuff and jump right into fall and winter.

I have a soft spot for “weird” fabrics, especially if I get comments at the fabric store to the effect of “how are you ever going to sew that?”  And so it was with this striped knit.  It’s very stretchy.  It’s wrinkly.  It has stripes that defy matching.  And those are probably the reasons that it sat in the fabric stash for quite a few years.  I had to ponder over it – for quite some time, apparently.  Actually, I did have a plan … of sorts.  Not too long after buying this fabric (and already pondering on how to tackle it) I was at a Met Live in HD performance.  The host(ess?) who talked to the various singers during intermissions (possibly Joyce DiDonato?) was wearing a top (or was it a dress?) out of a fabric similar to mine – weird zigzaggy lines and crinkly.  (Why do I remember weird random details from years back?)  What struck me was that the seams were all on the outside, and they were “bound” in black.  Bingo – that was the way to do it!  I still had to ponder the idea some more, obviously.  Well, I finally did it.  It just took some time to get up the nerve.
To keep seams to a minimum, I cut a kimono sleeve t-shirt.  (I sort of followed this tutorial on turning a t-shirt pattern with sleeves into a kimono sleeve pattern.)

I sewed the seams with a narrow serged seam (say that quickly three times) with woolly nylon thread in both loopers.  This took a lot of sample sewing – despite the differential feed being set at max, it was a wavy mess, until I finally came up with the solution of sandwiching the seam in water soluble stabilizer (yes, the stuff you use for machine embroidery).  It worked perfectly.

Just a small matter of getting rid of all that stabilizer mess at the end.  No need for differential feed, either.  To avoid hemming issues the bottom and sleeves were finished off with bands.  And … the neck was “faced” with a strip of fabric.
 

And every new t-shirt needs a new pair of pants.  The wool left over from this coat.  Just my usual Vogue 2532.  And yes, they’re lined.

As if that wasn’t enough…  Couldn’t leave any leftovers – heaven forbid.  Seems I had enough for two sleeves.

And then (I must have been delirious from lack of sleep, or something) – I even managed a little cowl scarf.

That was certainly overkill.
There’s another similar fabric lurking in the fabric stash – more black than cream….  May-be I’ll leave that one to marinate for a while longer.

16 comments:

  1. You do make the classiest things. I really love this outfit and saved your tutorial video as well.

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  2. Какая интересная полоска)

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    1. Интересная, но невероятная головоломка для шитья.

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  3. I love your creative garments! All the best with your RTW fast...I had the same hang up as you. If I didn't have to send a picture, I probably would have signed up. I even found one that I could crop and just couldn't do it...don't know what's up with that. Have a wonderful year sewing. (I'm going to try to do it on my own. We'll see).

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    1. Thank-you, Deborah! Best of luck to you with your sewing endeavors in 2018.

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  4. It looks like you "marinated" just right because these pieces are all just wonderful. And I love that fabric. I would have been drawn to it as well, as I love a stripe. I was going to sign up for RTW too but no photo. Don't even have one to crop. So I will be doing it in spirit. Jean

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    1. Thank-you! I think that there are a lot of people who didn't actually sign up for the fast, but who will be joining in anyway. The more, the merrier.

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  5. Love all the makes! I jointed the RTW fast too but didn't give much thought to the photo. I just found any old one and sent it through...lol. I may regret that later :)

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    1. Thank-you, Vicki! I'll be looking forward to seeing your "makes" throughout the year.

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  6. I just love this outfit. So chic! I also am attracted to fabrics like the one you used in your top. I always search on " textured knits" on my favorite online fabric sites. Binding the seams on the outside is such a fabulous technique to use on irregular stripes, and provides a great accent.

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    1. Thank-you, Audrey! Interesting fabrics do make for some interesting sewing.

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  7. I love the black and white fabric. You did a great job of making things from it.

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  8. Happy New Year! Love the stripe fabric. I love purchasing unique pieces and in the past received comments like... Wow you're buying that and what can you make w/ that? Great looking slacks. Btw.. I believe I have a stripe-wavy print dress with that similar fabric. Great minds.

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  9. With leading, the goal is to create enough space between the lines of text so they fit nicely together and don't interfere with one another, without creating so much space that they look artificial or become difficult to read. New t shirt styles

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