Where did you get that T-Shirt

As mentioned yesterday, I have the Marcy Tilton video book "Where Did You Get That T-Shirt". This is a new acquisition - I didn't really need it as I have made tops and t-shirts before with pretty good success. But you know, that is no reason not to get something, now is it? I used

Kwik Sew 3338. This is a good pattern to use as it has a longer back shoulder armscye to the front and the shoulder dot on the sleeve is that little bit more forward to match that. It also has a bust "dart" of sorts - that is the front is a bit longer than the back and you ease the difference at bust level giving you that little bit more fabric in the bust area. More than enough for moi! These are things that Marcy suggests you need for a better fit.

This pattern has negative ease which is not a recommendation by Marcy, but I like my t-shirts to be fitted.

The video book has:

8 videos that cover tissue fitting, cutting out, stabilising, binding, sleeves etc.

Text pages that give the same information as the videos

Pages of inspirational t-shirts (her website has even more)

The good thing is you don't need an overlocker/serger/coverstitch machine - and the results are pretty darn good! One thing you need to do which can make a really big impact on the final look is to pin fit the t-shirt before you stitch the side and sleeve seams. You get a really good feel for how the t-shirt is going to look before it is TOO LATE! You can tailor the fit with this one step to see how you want the t-shirt to look.

I stitch my knit tops with a very small zig zag - length 2mm and width 1.5mm. This gives enough stretch. I then do a second row on seams with more stress. I could overlock, but that would require me to set up another machine...lol...and it really is not necessary. Marcy has a spray glue method of setting the hems before stitching. I didn't try this as I left my hem raw. I will let you know how this goes on my next one!

As promised, here is a picture of me last night with the latest t-shirt and the 10 minute skirt. For the skirt I just sewed up the rectangle of left over fabric and added lingerie elastic to the waist. I used the selvage of the fabric for the hem.

For Aussie readers - it looks a bit "Motto" doesn't it? Definitely unintentional!

Sewing again

Thank you all again for the hugs and kind wishes. It is much appreciated!!:)

About a month ago I purchased the Marcy Tilton DVD/book Where Did you get That T-Shirt. This week I sat down in front of the computer and watched the demonstrations and read the text. I think it is fantastic that you can make something so unique from a basic pattern. Yesterday I went through the stash and boy do I have a lot of knits...it is about time I made a few of them up!! Lots of teals and lots of pinks, and quite a few browns. But as I couldn't decide which ones to use (I wanted to use more than one, a al Marcy Tilton) I didn't do anything!

Come Saturday I went straight for something completely different - this interesting fabric I got from Frou Frou in Glen Waverly as a remnant - maybe 1.5 metres? It is a brown and orange mesh with flowers, sequins, rouching etc. I draped in on Eames with other fabrics that I thought may match - a brown mesh and a coral mesh. I ditched the coral as it looked too pink with the orange. I decided the brown looked good and I would use that as the sleeves.


I cut a row of the shirring as binding for the neckline and the sleeve hems. I cut the body of the top with a row of shirring at the bottom (to be the hem), but alas it just made the mesh poof out - not a good look on the hips, so I cut the the shirring off. It made the top shorter but the effect overall was much better. I have left the bottom unhemed.




For the neck binding, after cutting it about 5cms shorter than the neck edge and dividing it into quarters, I just zig zagged the binding onto the neck edge. Very easy and the effect is pretty good, if I do say so myself! With the sleeve hems I sewed the binding on before attaching the sleeves to the body.



I am not 100% happy with the final result as there is a bit of pouching in the bust area - not sure if it is because the pattern is too long between shoulder and underarm or if it is just the fabric. I used Kwik Sew 3338 ( I will post more on that tomorrow) size XS. The fabric does have a lot of give.......so now for the unveiling (on Eames).......

I had heaps of fabric over, so I quickly whipped up a one seam skirt to match! The top and skirt are about to go out for Chinese, so I will get a photo of me in it to post tomorrow.

I can feel a few more T-Shirts in my future......