FO: Swirly Birds Planfrew

This is one of those projects that was totally inspired by fabric! When I saw this print from the latest collection of the Doodles line at Joann's, I had to have some. It comes in 3 colorways, and when I went to the store back in June the only color they had on hand was this green. With such a bus fabric, I knew I wanted it to be a fairly simple t-shirt, so I bought 1.5 yards and went home to plan.

The resulting shirt is a true Planfrew - part Plantain, part Renfrew. My last few simple shirts have been combinations of these two patterns, but this one is definitely the biggest marriage of the two. I took my previously altered Plantain pattern with the Renfrew neckline (as well as a 1" wedge removed from the center front for my hollow chest) and used that for the bust and above. Since this fabric is an interlock knit, it's a bit too thick to pull off the drape around the tummy area of the Plantain, so I used the Renfrew pattern for the waist and hip, but I made it the length of the Plantain so I could do a twin needle hem (not the ham band of the Renfrew). Still with me? lol. Since I used the Plantain above the bust, I used the Plantain sleeve as well, but hemmed it shorter. The result is almost my perfect t-shirt.

Here's that slightly shortened sleeve. All I did was fold the hem up a bit more and twin needle stitched at 6/8ths of an inch. It's something I wanted to try lately since I've noticed that a lot of nicer ready to wear t-shirts have a greater distance between the bottom edge and the twin needle stitching.

I'm particularly happy with how the back of this shirt looks. It's a nice relaxed fit, but it's still a bit shapely. I've been trying to figure out the perfect shoulder distance for me, and this is certainly the closest I've come. I also made a deeper hem at the bottom on this just like at the sleeves. I folded under about 1.25" all the way around and then stitched at 6/8ths and trimmed the excess. It may still be a touch long, but I think that I can easily wear it with jeans in this length (should I ever actually wear jeans - it's so blazing hot right now!)

For some reason I had a harder time than usual with this neckband - I just couldn't get the stitching smooth around the curve of the neckline. So this neckline took two tries, but I'm really happy with the results :) I used Woolly Nylon thread in the bobbin for all my twin needle stitching on this shirt and I really am surprised at how it keeps the stitches from looking like a raised tunnel. This is really the perfect neckline height for me though! It's the Renfrew neckline height and neck band, but I attached it using the method from the Plantain pattern. I told you - it's a total marriage of the two patterns!

Yay birds! Isn't the color on this shirt great?! It's borderline Christmasy, and I will certainly play that up come December, lol. While the neckband piece is from the Renfrew, I did make the finished band itself much narrower just as my personal preference - I find it much easier to stitch the neckline if I have a bit more fabric to hold onto and then I just cut off the excess close to the stitching line.

As usual this fabric is wonderfully soft. I've worked with Doodles interlock before on my Forest Friends Sorrel and I certainly plan to again (in fact I already have another piece waiting to be sewn up!). The fabric is really soft since it's designed for toddlers, but it washes really well. It's also got a bit more heft to help hide lumps and bumps, but it's still not so thick as to be too hot for Florida. Perfect!

So there you have it - my Swirly Birds top :) I've already worn this out and about and I can absolutely attest to it's awesome comfort level. Yay for quick, simple, and fun projects!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Cotton Interlock Green Birds fabric - $10.36
Pattern: Renfrew by Sewaholic Patterns and Plantain by Deer + Doe Patterns
Notions: knit stay tape - $0.10, thread - $1.00, wooly nylon thread - $0.20
Time: 2.5 hours
Total Cost: $11.66