FO: A Tale of Two Bosties

This is a shirt with an interesting story, lol. It all started when I was looking on Joann's website at the new fabric designs and came across this Boston Terrier printed cotton interlock from their Doodles line. My sister, Shannon, has a Boston Terrier named Willie and totally loves him. I suddenly decided she needed a Bostie shirt for her birthday (which was in 6 days at that point). I drove to Joann's right then and had to do some hunting to find this print, but find it I did and I walked out with enough to make a shirt.

I asked my sister what she likes in a shirt fit-wise and decided to make her a Deer + Doe Plantain but with the raised neckline of the Sewaholic Renfrew. I didn't like the idea of using such a large print for the neck band so I dug through my stash of knits and decided to use this bright aqua blue rib knit I got at a thrift store and I love how it turned out :)

When I finished the shirt, I was really in love with it and on a serious roll. I had the notion that I could make a matching shirt for my nephew with the larger leftover pieces. That night I saw my sister and literally took the t-shirt off my nephew's back to trace a pattern from, which I did that night. He's much bigger than I anticipated, so I was only able to use the Bostie fabric on the front panel and even that I had to piece with a bottom band to get it long enough. Luckily I had plenty of the rib knit, so I just used that for all the other pieces.

So here's where it gets interesting, lol. My sister came to visit from Oklahoma a week after I made the shirt, and I quickly suspected that she would not be as amused with the Bostie fabric as I was - not in a bad way or anything, she just has a more contemporary and (dare I say) adult style then myself, haha. I had a cute Lauren Conrad blazer I picked up at a thrift store recently and thought at the time that it looked like something Shannon would wear, so I brought the Bostie shirts and gave a big schpeal that she did not need to feel obligated to keep the Bostie shirt if she thought she would never wear it and that I had an alternative offering if she so chose. I was right - I liked the shirt way more than she did (like I had actually thought of going out and getting more of the fabric to make myself one) but she did like the blazer. So now I have my own Bostie shirt and Shannon has a blazer and all is well, lol. I still insisted on doing a photo shoot with the original recipients along with her dog though before they left.

The fit came out really well so at least I know what size to make if/when I decide to make a shirt more to her taste in the future, lol. Luke didn't want to wear his shirt at first, but once we convinced him to put it on he refused to take it off so clearly he's a fan. It is now his "Willie shirt" since that's the only Bostie he knows. Willie clearly approves as well.

Haha - gross.

So now for the particulars. I made the short sleeve length and just added bands that were the same length as the bottom of the sleeve piece (personally I hate sleeves that hold tight when worn). So it turned out as a sort of cuter version of a ringer tee.

I'm really pleased with the fit on this shirt - it's snug enough to give me a shape but not digging in anywhere.

I think the fabric is so much fun! Even though I'm a corgi lover, how can you deny the cute-ness of these Bosties? Amiright?!

I did manage to get a few pictures of Luke in his shirt the night I gave it to him. These are all his own poses - my personal favorite is the "pregnant lady pose" in the center, lol. Who knows how he came up with that one. His shirt actually came out a little big, which is surprising and a bit of a relief because I was worried it wouldn't be long enough for him compared to the shirt I made the pattern from. The blue ribbing seems to have caused the shirt to grow a bit, but it's kind of a good thing because it means he will be able to wear it longer.

For the adult version, I decided to be fancy with switching my thread colors on the top stitching. Ooh, so fancy! I used my favorite twin needle finish wherever possible and always had woolly nylon thread in the bobbin. Around the neckband I used white thread while at the sleeve bands I used a matching aqua blue color so it doesn't distract. I'm pretty proud of how the sleeves turned out for such an improvised thing. I didn't want actual hem bands, so these are done like the neckband - I stitched the pieces right sides together, pressed the bands under at a width I liked the look of, then top stitched the hem in place. It looks a little interesting on the inside, but it's still neat and clean - there's just 2 seam allowances there now.

So that's it :) The shirt that wasn't actually intended for me but is now mine. It's like I made myself a gift! lol Those are always the best kinds anyway. I look forward to wearing it around on casual days to come. And my nephew thinks it's pretty cool that we have matching shirts too :) #coolestauntforthewin

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Boston Terrier Cotton Interlock Knit - $9.00, aqua blue rib knit - $0.25 (thrifted)
Patterns: Plantain by Deer + Doe with Renfrew neckline
Notions: knit interfacing - $0.10, thread - $0.50, woolly nylon thread - $0.25
Time: 5 hours (for both shirts)
Total Cost: $10.10

FO: Stripey Plan-Frew Refashion

You guys - I made my first ever striped shirt! And it's a refashion!

Here is what the shirt originally was purchased as:

It was a Bobbie Brooks rayon/poly size small maxi dress. It was a fine enough (if poorly made) dress to begin with, but I am no size small and I liked the fabric. For $1.00, I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out stripe matching.

I've been really into a looser fit on striped shirts lately. I have 2 thrifted shirts that I love the fit of - this one was my example. I started off with the Plantain pattern since it's loose at the waist, and I compared the pattern to the cut of this shirt. I ended up adding in a 1" wedge to the side seam at the bust line. I also did my usual change of raising the neckline. Then I started cutting. The fabric is a light weight sweater knit that stretches well horizontally, but had zero vertical stretch. This meant it loved to roll at the edge, plus it wanted to unravel. I took my time cutting everything out so I could match the stripes.

I started off by adjusting the body pattern to be closer to my inspiration shirt. I simply folded that shirt perfectly in half, then laid the plantain front pattern piece over top to see what the difference was. I ended up adding a 1" wedge to the top of the underarm on the body, then did the same thing to the back pattern piece. This way I get a slightly looser fit at the bust and the rest of the pattern is already flowy enough to match the inspiration shirt.

Here's the stripe matching on my side seams. One side is perfect while the other is just ever so slightly off. I don't think anyone will ever notice, but I wish I had been a bit more careful. Oh well, it's way better than ready to wear clothes (especially considering this dress had zero stripes matched anywhere) and it will not keep me from enjoying it.

Here's my matched sleeve seam. I used the method of stripe matching that Sarai put out with the Dahlia Dress where you match it at the notches on the sleeves. This worked out great at that point, but it is a little off on all the other stripes :/ Oh well, you can't have everything and it's at least slightly off in the same way on each side so it looks symmetrical. It matches pretty well at the bust line, but you can see how it starts to veer apart. I think next time I will try to match it up a little higher so others can visually appreciate it, lol.

I decided to play with the stripe directions and cut the neckband on the cross grain. I was a little worried about i tat first since this fabric has absolutely no stretch in the cross direction, but the original dress had it so I thought it must work ok. Only after cutting out and piecing the neckband together did I notice the original was on the bias :/ It worked out ok though, and I lined up the seam I had to piece on the stripe edge so you would never know it was pieced together - score! The neckband certainly has less give than my other shirts, but I kind of like it that way - I don't have to worry about it sagging when I sit down. My other big change I made to the pattern was to raise the neckline to the Renfrew height and use that neckband pattern piece (thus the Plan-frew title). I love the height of this neckline!

My favorite part of this shirt is that perpendicular striped neckband - it's just so cool looking! I don't think I've ever had a ready to wear shirt that made this design choice, so it feels fancy I guess. 

I'm really happy with this little experiment, and I feel a little more confident in my pattern matching now while still learning things I need to change next time. 

Summary:
Fabric: thrifted Bobbie Brooks rayon/poly maxi dress - $1.00
Pattern: Deer + Doe Plantain with Sewaholic Renfrew neckline plus fit hacks
Notions: black knit stay tape - $0.15, thread - stash
Hours: 3
Total Cost: $1.15

FO: Pinwheel Plan-Frew

I had the itch to sew a new shirt to go with my Brown Melissa Skirt a few weeks ago - my wardrobe tends to favor cooler colors, so kind of hit or miss on wearing with brown. Why not make something, right? I've had this cute Pinwheel jersey in my stash since July and really wanted to make something with it. I ended up with my Thanksgiving outfit:)

I've officially named this the Pinwheel Plan-Frew. I love the fit of the Deer + Doe Plantain, but the neckline is a bit low for me, so after making several versions by laying the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern over top to raise the neckline, I finally grew a brain and traced it all together as a new pattern; thus, the Plan-Frew. I also have noticed a bit of gaping at the neck when I sit down (i.e. hunch my shoulders) on previous versions, so I also took a 1" wedge from the center front as a hollow chest adjustment. I'm happy to report this doesn't gape at all!

I had 1.5 yards of this jersey (from Joann's Doodles line - yes, it's for toddlers) and I really wanted to jazz things up in some way on this shirt so I decided to make the 3/4 sleeve version with elbow patches. The blue on the elbows is a scrap of thrifted cotton interlock that went well enough with the other colors involved so I went for it. I can't believe it's been over a year since I made the 3/4 sleeve version of this pattern! I love it so much - the patches are so fun! I used a nice narrow zig zag stitch on their very outer edge so the stitches disappear more than they did on previous versions. I love how they turned out.

Since the neckband had the pinwheels on it as well, I made extra sure to keep the pattern even when I cut as well as when I folded it over. I top stitched the neckband with a twin needle as usual.

I took quite a lot of care when cutting this out so I could match the lines of pinwheels from front to back as well as on the sleeves. I'm incredibly pleased with how well the sides seams matched up! They aren't matched to be invisible, but I think since the lines are consistent it helps hide the seams.

Obligatory mannequin shots. The top looks more drapey here than it is on my body. While this is a jersey, it's a very heavy jersey and it has a crazy amount of 4 way stretch, all of while made it fit a bit tighter than some of my other versions. I think the fit is flattering though.

Details, of course. I'm pretty proud of my neckband and elbow patch stitching - much more precise than any previous version of this shirt, that's for sure. I can definitely tell my skills have improved over this last year.

Did I mention I love the elbow patches? lol I kept flashing them at everyone who said anything about my shirt all evening on Thanksgiving. I know that I will get lots of wear out of this top since it's fun, goes with mt colors I like, and is really comfy. I couldn't be happier!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of Doodles Teal Pinwheel Knit - $8.25, scraps of teal ribbed knit (thrifted) - stash
Pattern: Deer + Doe Plantain with Sewaholic Renfrew neckline
Notions: knit stay tape - $0.15, thread - stash
Hours: 3
Total Cost: $8.40