Spring tshirt binge sew

I'll just jump right in. 

 Ebony by Closet Core Patterns, raglan tee, size 2, which is what I've used before and liked the most.

-in pink interlock knit: I like this! 

Then I made a dress for a friend by lengthening the raglan pattern as much as I could to fit my fabric.  It was fine but I thought there's way too much fabric in the back, so I decreased the amount of hi-lo in the hem and took out a wedge from the back - not at the centre back but slightly to the side of that, starting at the bottom of the armscye which is where it starts to hang freely on me.  And that was fine but then I lost interest.  I gave version two to my friend as well (she's pregnant) - if I make this again, it needs pockets.

Finn Tee by Petite Stitchery size XS. I found it suspicious that the front and the back are the same!  But it does work.  The sleeve somehow seems to have extra fabric in it but I think in rayon or a more drapey fabric it would be fine. I was debating changing the armscye and sleeve to the Sasha Secondo Piano InstincTee though, still not sure if I need more shirts and want to spend the time frankenpatterning a perfect tshirt...yet.  Though last time I was pawing through my patterns I did kind of pause and think it would be a great combination.

 

 

Briar tee in 3 sizes and 3 lengths -
I made the briar in S (white) and XS (purple) of the old sizes, and then in 4, going to 6 at the waist of the new pattern. This is the same as XS according to the size charts.  I had never made the tunic length top before and surprise!!  I don't love it!  I hacked off a large chunk of the back hem.  My new cover stitch machine gobbled up this top after behaving fine on everything else, go figure.  I do like the longer length post trimming.  Then I caved in and made the size 2 (new pattern) with 4" added to the cropped length - out of some silk jersey. This is great and I like the tighter fit a lot -  but the jersey unfortunately gapes a tiny bit at the front neck, enough to irritate me.  I think once I'm wearing it a lot I will not care.

 

 

 

 

Made for Mermaids Avery - size is called purple - I did not end up liking the back feature. It does indeed flip out.  Overall the construction was straightforward, but this type of very long top are seldom my style and I didn't go on to make the dress. I am not sure what I think of this pattern company so far.

Patterns 4 Pirates Tulip front (or back) tee - in green merino, and I love it!  This was one of my favourites of the binge, as I kind of expected.  I have a top similar to this.  This type of top has a lot of caveats - it gathers funny at the front because the sleeves are attached.  The back swings open in unreliable ways.  I love all of it.  I will eventually make the tulip front version.  Not soon.

Pixie tee (or dress) - made in organic cotton from Alabama Chanin - very firm stuff.  I thought this was stupendously boring until I saw the pictures and noticed it has a subtle flare to it.  Hm.  Maybe in a drapey knit?  Also really needs pockets.  I cut my size according to the chart - it's meant to be a pretty breezy top with a lot of ease, and I think that's true.  It fits me well, other than being too long.

tilly and the buttons Agnes - decided to make a short sleeved tee and this time use a better length binding! Well, that was fine and good but it's so tight I can barely breathe.  Oops.  

Hemlock in black - with various modifications that I had applied last year - a bit of curve to the hem, a dropped sleeve...this silk jersey just isn't good for me here.  It makes it into a heavy, oversized top and the pattern would be cute on a dress but does not work.  Silk jersey is funny - sometimes it is amazing but because of the weight and drape it can behave very differently to other jerseys.

 

 

Made for Mermaids LOGAN

Ooh, this is an absolute winner. Surprise winner!  I made a tshirt version to check fit (note to self: add a hem band, even in my photos I wanted to hug my belly out of view...) and then I made one in interlock jersey, and I adore it.  Except for the colours.  I will definitely make this for myself.  Do note: the front pieces are not mirrored.  Don't be like me and accidentally cut some of them wrong side out.  That's what led to the blue in the tshirt, as I didn't have enough greens to re-cut.

 

Luckily I have some new colleagues imported from the US with a teenage daughter keen on cropped items so a lot of these went to her.  This binge was during hard life times when I needed the simplicity to keep me going, but it was good food for thought on why I sew, and also on what results I want.  It's inspired me to stop binge cutting (I have a tendency to cut a bunch of projects which then sit around) - but rather to work on a single project at a time beginning to end. I have a bunch of things I really want to make that I never start because they will be a bit more work, so hopefully this will move me to do those instead of easy things.

 

Made for Mermaids Willow romper review

 Size "purple"

Fabric: lightweight merino, probably a blend, from Otara, which is the land of cheap fabrics in south Auckland. 

I bought 4 patterns by this new to me company.
I have now made 3 of them: the Avery, Logan, and the Willow. 

As far as I can tell this is either a friend, subsidiary, or someone who stole the concept from Patterns 4 Pirates.  The designer uses a very similar layout in her instructions, though the patterns are slightly different - using colour coding for sizes.  They feel very similar in character as well.

My first large irritation is that I had these printed as A0 patterns and the paper usage was horrible.  Pieces were not placed tightly on the paper, and I think there was an entire huge sheet for a single A4 element that could have been put somewhere else.  I pay for the luxury of A0 and it's $7 a sheet.  When a pattern lazily takes up 3 sheets, that's 21$ I have paid on top of the cost of the pattern!  

I have mentioned elsewhere that I passionately hate instructions done as colour photos.  This is unchanged.  The way I survived these instructions is that basically, I rarely needed them. 

This was a fast pattern, as were the Logan and the Avery. Thus far my feeling is that this company puts out easy to make patterns with very lazy drafting, in knits where it doesn't matter.  I made the higher crotch romper, and I might have shortened it.  The fit is fine, though not at all flattering. The pockets are a bit too low.  I don't really like the strap method.  You precut the straps and sew the ends together then treat it like a bias strip, sewing it it as a binding for the armhole which is just not sewn to anything at the top. There's instruction on how to put clear elastic in the tops - which I recommend, but my straps are gaping all the way around, suggesting that this method overall doesn't create a very good structural finish for a garment.  I do like the bodice fit enough to be semi tempted to make the dress, but not until I have decided how to fix this strap issue.