Sew Frugal: Vera Knit Top

 

After the sad state of my Miranda Gathered (?) Tee, I didn't want my Sew Frugal entry to be a bust. I had printed out the Vera Knit Top by Forget Me Not Patterns quite a long time ago, but I never sewed it up. This was the perfect moment to finally give it a try! Since I had never made any Forget Me Not patterns, I did want to make a mock up just to be sure, and this turned out to be a great wearable muslin :)

For full details of this make, you can head over to my YouTube channel and watch this video :) But I wanted a written review as well. So the fabric I chose was a coral pink swan print bamboo knit I grabbed in the clearance section at The Sewing Studio sale a year or so ago. This fabric is buttery soft and lovely. I grabbed 2 yards back then, which is perfect for this pattern. Since i got this for a very good price and I wasn't 1000% adoring of the swan print now, I didn't mind using it as a potential sacrificial fabric if this didn't work out. Thankfully it did and I love the print now that it's all done. Funny how making fabric into something cute can make you fall in love with it again.

So the construction is pretty simple and the instructions are very detailed. I was able to get a nice V neckline even though I've never sewn one before. Sadly, I had my iron just a smidge too warm for this fabric and it made the seam allowance beneath the neck band press in a shiny line there. I didn't really pay attention to the fact that this shirt has a high-low hemline, which I honestly don't love, but that's a simple change for next time. There was enough length for me to do a standard 1 inch deep hem though, so that was nice. 

The sleeve length I have here is my own fault and not the fault of the pattern. It's not awful or anything, it's just not what I intended. The pattern comes with 2 cuff lengths - the long cuff gives full long sleeves, so I thought that the short cuff did too and I would need to shorten the sleeve. Turns out, the cuff is the only difference in the sleeve length. I should have cut the normal sleeve as drafted and used the small cuff piece for 3/4 sleeves, but instead I shortened the sleeve to the lengthen/shorten line, which put my finished sleeve just above my elbow. It's still cute and I have already worn it, I just know that next time I want to use the whole sleeve because it's a bit fuller as well.

So that's my successful Sew Frugal project for 2024 :) I'm really happy with how this turned out and I know that I will absolutely be making more Vera tops in the future. This is a fantastic free pattern, and I hope everyone makes one for themselves.

Summary:

Fabric: 2 yards coral swan print bamboo knit - $6.42

Pattern: Vera Knit Top by Forget Me Not Patterns - Free

Notions: Thread - $0.50

Time: 3 hours

Total Cost: $ 6.92

Sew Frugal: Miranda Gathered (?) Tee

My first Sew Frugal project turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, but I wanted to still post about it here for others that look into this pattern. I didn't really find much online about this pattern before I used it, so I know a review can be helpful :) 

If you want the full shebang - head over to my YouTube channel for the full shebang. This is a written review of the full info there.

I discovered the Miranda Gathered Detail Tee pattern by Tiana's Closet and I loved the example photo. I love that it's a basic t-shirt with a little something extra in the gathers at the yoke, so I decided to give it a try. I grabbed a blue cotton interlock from my stash that I had thrifted so I knew it wouldn't be the end of the world if it didn't turn out, and it's a good thing I did. I think you can notice a few differences in my version already - most notably being that mine has almost no gathering to speak of whatsoever. The entire reason I wanted to make this pattern was for the gathers, so I was pretty bummed to have it turn out like this. The directions tell you to sew a gathering stitch across the yoke like on the front, but the seam allowance is so small I couldn't do my usual 2 lines of gathering stitches, so just one row made for less even gathers. In the end, the gathering stitches did nothing at all anyway, so I compared the two pattern pieces and the yoke piece is wider than the body, but only by about 2 inches. Also, I really like the sweetheart shape to the yoke on the example photo, but as you can see on my photo above - that was almost non-existent. I'm not sure how this happened either except that it must not be drafted in like the photo shows. The instructions on this are sparse to say the least and they just tell you to top stitch the seam allowance down for the yoke, but the more I look at the pattern photo, the more convince I am that she used a top stitches band on top of that area.  

The back is 3 pieces that get assembled first, which feels slightly unnecessary if I'm honest. You do get a nice fit at the lower back if you have a sway back like me, but personally it's not a big enough deal for me on a t-shirt to justify the extra work there. The pattern photo also shows a band on the yoke seam, which I do not have. I like that it sits flatter though, so I would probably do this part the same way.

The sleeves were just standard and simple. No issues there to report. If you have never sewn a t-shirt before, these instructions will not help much, but I've sewn a fair few in my time so it was no problem. This is also an extremely small hem because I found the shirt a bit short as it was drafted, so next time I would definitely make it an inch longer there.

In the end, I'm left with a ... perfectly adequate plain blue t-shirt. I do want to do a little work to this pattern and see if I can get something similar to the example, but with how it is drafted it just did not happen. It's really a shame, but I feel like this is a case of "you get what you pay for". If this had been a paid for pattern, I would have been very upset with the outcome I achieved. Since it was free, I'm willing to put in a little work, but it just didn't end up being what I felt was a good Sew Frugal entry. After I let this pattern sit and think about what it's done for a while, I will try again. 

Summary:

Fabric: 1.25 yards of blue interlock - $1.00

Pattern: Miranda Gathered Detail Tee by Tiana's Closet - Free

Notions: Thread - Free

Time: 3 hours

Total Cost: $ 1.00