Green T-shirt

One more short-sleeve T-shirt for my husband. I had a piece of green cotton fabric with almost no stretch, which was a remnant from another project, so in this year's spirit of clearing my stash, I decided to turn it into a blouse.

I used again my true-and-tried Burda pattern, size 50, but with some tweaks. The pattern is tailored, but I made it straight and I also played a little with the neckline, widening it 1.5 cm at the front. 

As I often make t-shirts for husband, based on this pattern, you might think, that I can make these now by heart - but nothing could be farther from the truth. Every time I decide to cut a new t-shirt, I start measuring and tweaking and guessing what had I changed the previous time to get a good fit.

So, I've decided to make a cardboard copy of the pattern and to introduce all of the tweaks and mods I find necessary, based on this latest t-shirt, so that next time I wouldn't need to guess what kind of elongations and other changes I need to make, to get the perfect fit. And as I am really curious how this would work, I am very much inclined to visit my favourite fabric shop and buy a piece of knit fabric, just to try the modified pattern with all the latest alterations. Expect a new men's t-shirt here in the nearest future :)

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 50 with with added length

Fabric: cotton knit

Time to make: 2 days

Grey T-shirt for Husband

One more T-shirt I made for husband, probably the last short-sleeved one I'm making for him this year (for now :).

There isn't much to say about it, I used the same pattern with the same corrections I had made for the previous T-shirt, the only difference is, that I added color elements, utilizing some remnant fabric from his previous red T-shirt.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 50 with with added length

Fabric: polycotton knit

Time to make: 2 days

A curious fact - I paid double the money for this grey fabric, compared to the red fabric. Both fabrics are the same length - about 1 m with 180 cm width. However, the red fabric was 100% cotton knit, while this grey fabric is soft and pleasant to the touch, but the burn test showed, that it had some (probably about 25-30% polyester content). So, higher price is not always an indicator for higher quality, you know :)

On the other hand, the grey fabric was very easy and pleasant to work with and has a really nice touch to the skin, so all in all I am actually happy with it, despite the polyester content.

Red T-shirt for Husband

One more T-shirt for husband. Although he does have plenty of T-shirts, he requested a few new this summer and of course, I was more than happy to oblige.

The pattern is the one and only, that i use for men's short and long sleeve T-shirts - Burda 132 from the December 2020 issue. Despite the fact, that I've already made probably a dozen T-shirts out of this pattern, I'm still perfecting the fit for husband. 

This summer he requested them with a bit looser fit, so I've been cutting the size 50, with added length, but with corrections for the neck opening, which he prefers more close fitting.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 50 with with added length

Fabric: cotton knit

Time to make: 2 days

 

As is my habit of late, I added again a pocket for interest, with a small label I've salvaged from something old I've probably thrown away. I like the way these pockets with labels break the monotony of plain color T-shirts. 

I've covered again the back neckline with a strip of fabric, the way men's T-shirts are made industrially. I like the polished look such finishing provides, apart from its utility purpose - to cover the overlocked edge. Funny, that such finishing is rare in women's T-shirts.

White Raglan Blouse

One more color block blouse I made recently, this one is intended for Gaby.

I've been planning a raglan zipped cardigan for Gaby and on Shkatulka sewing site I found a pattern , that I really liked. However, first I decided to try their raglan patterns with something simpler, like a short sleeve T-shirt, which is free for all sizes on their site and includes a straight long sleeve tee and a short-sleeve tailored tee.

I took out all of my knit fabric scraps and selected a pair that went really well together - off white and black and white stripes. 

Pattern: Shkatulka Raglan Tee

Size: Russian 42 (EU 36, S), height 168 cm; shortened

Fabric: cotton knit fabric

Thread: off white polyester

Time to make: 3 days

Notes: I'm not happy with the fit and I don't think their raglan patterns fit me - they seem to be too narrow at the shoulders and the sleeves don't lay naturally, following the curves of the arms, but pucker up. After I finished this tee, I made two testers of the raglan cardigan I was eyeing, and found them both unacceptable, so I've given up the Shkatulka patterns for now and I'm looking at some other raglan cardigans.

However, I like the idea of using bigger scraps for such small raglan T-shirts and I'm planning at least one more, using a true-and-tried Burda pattern, but probably later next year. It's time to take out the long-sleeve patterns now, winter is coming :)

Blouse with Drop Cut Outs

I made myself a new blouse for the coming spring and summer. I hadn't planned on buying new summer fabrics, but I couldn't resist this viscose knit with small openings in a grey-green color, that I like a lot.

The pattern is Burda 117 from the January Issue of 2021. I believe I bought it with the idea to make the version with the long bell sleeves, but grew cold to it. However, this year beside sticking to true and tried old favourites, I feel I want to try most of the unused patterns I've bought. The problem with new patterns is, that you are never sure with the fit, until you make a muslin (which I almost never do) or cut into the actual fabric. In the case of T-shirts it made no sense to make a muslin, so I just cut the smallest size 36, measured the width of the pieces and went ahead and made the blouse.

The original blouse is very, very simple, so I decided to embellish it with some drop-shaped cut outs at the neckline. I like how these turned out a lot and I am definitely going to repeat them in another blouse this summer, if I find a suitable fabric for Gaby.

Pattern: Burda 117 01/2021

Size: 36, with corrections

Fabric: polyviscose knit

Time to make: one week

Once I basted the side seams, I found out, that the simple straight line of the bottom of the T-shirt was too plain for my taste, so I curved it as much as the length of the cut pieces allowed and finished the side seams with some openings.

Next time I make this pattern, I will cut it out longer, with a more pronounced curve at the front and the back. I am not very happy with the fit, I find that Burda's size 36 often is too big on me, so next time I'll be taking at least 1 cm from the width of the front and back pattern pieces and the back neckline would also benefit from a little lowering.

I have still plenty of this fabric, so I might consider making myself a long-sleeve or a 3/4 sleeved Rhapsody. I really love the color and the texture of the fabric!

Yellow

Pattern: Obsession by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Alize Bamboo Fine 100% bamboo (130 g) and YarnArt Violet 100% cotton (90 g),
held together (approx. 580 m)
Needle: 3 mm edges and neckline, 3.5 mm body
Crochet cast on, hook 3.5 mm
Time to knit: 9 days

I hadn't knit yellow for ages. Because of the yellowish tint of my skin tan I've always thought that yellow was not my color, but now I'm reconsidering. The mustard bamboo and sunflower cotton for this little blouse combined in a lovely old gold color, that I instantly fell in love with. There's going to be more yellow knitting in the future. In fact, because of my overstashing, I've got enough yarn for a little shrug for my daughter, which I want to design myself (because shrugs are no-brainer :)))

The pattern is a classic Kim Hargreaves - easy elegance. However, I chose to knit it with bigger needles and seamlessly, so I had to rewrite every bit of it. And given my preference for purling, I also reversed it, so that I would purl rather than knit most of the rows. The blouse is stretchy and with enough positive ease, so that I can put it on and off without unbuttoning the 9 buttons.

The pictures were taken yesterday in the afternoon by my daughter. My little photographer was so enthused and took so many pictures here and there in the park, that I just couldn't choose fewer. My favourite series - among the dandelions :)))

The weather was warm, but quite windy and with a promise of rain, thankfully the wind blew away the rainy clouds.

And in tone with this posting - one of my most favourite bands with a favourite song - 

Coldpay and Yellow:

Breeze

Name: Breeze
Pattern: Green Gable by Rachel Bishop
Yarn: Nako Breeze 70% cotton 30% viscose
Needle: 3.00 mm (US 2 1/2)




Technically speaking, this isn't Rachel Bishop's Green Gable. First, it is knit from down to top in the round, the rib is ridged rib, the sleeves feature some short rows. Still, it's a short sleeved summer raglan sweater with meshed front, inspired by the look of said Green Gable pattern.
The yarn - lovely, for a viscose blend. The colour is such a rich sea blue green that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. Sadly, the camera fails to capture the nuances of green in the blue. I have a skein and a half left and I plan to buy some more of the same for this Filati short jacket.
It's a bleak rainy day outside, so I've been playing with my Micrografx and producing such funny photo-montages:





Visit this place for crafty ideas and achievements: Natural Suburbia