Y’know how you see some patterns, and you’re like, oh so easy!! but you go ahead and buy or trace-out or copy-as-exactly-as-possible anyway?
That’s how I felt with this Tshirt pattern; top 106 from Burdastyle magazine 06/2011. I just liked the shape of it, exactly as it appeared in the magazine; the subtle kimono sleeve, the boxy looseness of it. So I hauled out the ol’ tracing stuff and spread out the sheets and traced out this very very basic Tshirt/dress (you can make it a bit longer, and surprise! it is a dress! in true Burda magazine style, they elongate top patterns and give it a different number, making out it is a whole new pattern) even though all the while wondering that there was really nothing to it and maybe I was wasting my time and my tracing plastic. And my final thought; there really is nothing to it! Too easy!
However; made up, I am still enamoured of the cute shape and the very easy-to-wear and flattering kimono-sleeve. I will make this top up again, and properly next time. Because I admit it, this particular example is far from… well, gorgeous. To be honest, I think it is soon to become my bed-time attire, … woooh, such a glamour puss, no?!
But, here is my reasoning … remember this sundress? (below right) It has been a hot weather staple for quite a few years and I have finally bid it adieu. The zip pull was finally paintless, the straps had come adrift and been reattached with zig-zagging (discreet, but still unacceptably visible upon close inspection) a couple of times each, and the fabric is … old. I eventually realised it was not doing me any favours at all… But I still loooovee this colour, and there was plenty of fabric in the dress.
The thing with using old fabric for making new clothes is that; well obviously you are using old, and worn, and many times washed fabric, and usually that all shows and not to advantage either! Old fabric gets thin, stretched and mis-shapen in some parts of a garment and not others, and so has limited application for smart new items. But I still like to use old textiles as much as possible, saving the planet and so on and so on. Assuages the guilt of my eco-conscience, if you like.
The neckline of this Tshirt here is slightly higher and not-as-sharply-V as the pattern, and instead of facings for which surprisingly there was not enough fabric, I made bias strips to finish the neckline and sleeve edges. Since the original dress was cut on the bias, so the Tshirt is too. And it is a little shorter than the pattern stipulates, again due to fabric shortage. And even though this is just going to be a jammie top, the shoulder seams are flat-felled and the side seams are French seams. Well, one may as well practise where one can, right?
Y’like?
Details:
Top; Burdastyle magazine 06/2011, 106 modified slightly, chocolate brown bobbled and embroidered cotton, a refashion of a sundress also originally made by me
Trousers; (hmmm, these are getting pretty old too…) self-drafted, based on a pair of old jeans, of white linen, details here
