Make That Look: Zara Boat neck Top

My latest make for Gaby - an imitation of a Zara boat neck top we both have. I bought a piece of T-shirt cotton knit with navy blue and white stripes and of course the logical pattern for it was a boat neck top. I found plenty of useful tips on youtube on how to turn a crew neck pattern into a boat neck top, so i started with my Shkatulka tee pattern, modified the neckline and extended the sleeves to 3/4 length.

In order to match the stripes and make the shirt perfectly symmetrical, I cut two pieces of each front and back paper pattern, glued them together and drafted and cut the pattern pieces flat in a single layer. Even working in this manner I had to fix and align each individual stripe. From the constant movement of the fabric it was evident that if I had opted to cut the T-shirt pieces on the fold, as one usually does, the pattern placement would have been a disaster. It did take a lot of time to cut the pattern, but it was totally worth it!

The boat neck  - I watched half a dozen videos on finishing the boat neck and neither provided useful tips for the kind of finishing I was looking for - fully covered neckline and shoulders. So I had to figure it out myself. First I cut a band of navy blue cotton jersey and finished the neckline of the back. Then I stitched a longer band of the same jersey to the neckline and the shoulders of the front. Then I attached the shoulders of the back to the front. Then I folded the band to cover the front neckline and both shoulders. Finally I stitched flat the covered shoulders to the back. Et voilà - a perfect covered boat neck and shoulders!

And here's my own label, discretely attached to the back of the T-shirt.

Stripe-matching - that's another story :) I sewed all the side seams on the overlocker, carefully pinning together every other dark stripe, to ensure as accurate matching as possible. 

Pattern: Boat Neck Top, modified Shkatulka top

Size: 42, reduced to 40 (equivalent to EU 34, xs)

Fabric: 100% cotton knit

Thread: polyester, white and navy blue

Time to make: 2 days

The hems are finished first on the overlocker and then folded, ironed and hemmed on the sewing machine with white thread and double needle.

The view of the back