Wednesday, October 3, 2012

I Made A Shirt

It's been a coon's age (and then some) since I've made a shirt.  I whipped up a few skirts last year, but skirts are easy, even if you put in pockets which I did.  A shirt's something that needs to fit, at least a somewhat.  Happily this pattern calls for a single knit, t-shirt fabric so it's forgiving of my rusty garment sewing skills.  You remember that my roomie at The Clearing, cda, wore a shirt kind of like it, I admired it, and (of course) wanted one for my very own.  Too cheap (frugal's a better word, cheap implies low quality) to look for and buy a ready-made one I found a pattern and some fabric.  I was surprised that t-shirt knits aren't as popular as they were when I was sewing for my kids (over 20 years ago--eek) so it was difficult to find what I wanted and the fabric's no longer as inexpensive as it was (no surprise there, nothing is-- pattern prices have gone from less than $5 to nearly $20, good thing for sales).  Aaaanyway, this is a wordy way of saying that I made a shirt yesterday.  I cut it out at work on Monday and knuckled down yesterday afternoon and evening and I'm wearing it today.  I like it but there are a few mods I want to make.  I love the 3/4 sleeve length but I'd like the body to be a bit shorter, less like a tunic, so that the front & back hems hit mid-hip.  I knew that'd be a problem (I'm short), that's why I bought the solid color knit to make one as a kind of "muslin" (a practice one) to save the striped fabric for the "real" shirt.  That's easily fixed; there's even a "lengthen or shorten" line printed on patterns for just that reason.  And I need to figure out a way to fill in the neckline a bit.  It's wide, not even covering my bra straps, so today I'm wearing a tank under it but I'd like to make one I can wear without that extra layer... or without the underlayer being so obvious.  Research will commence once posting is accomplished (unless pesky customers get in the way).

In the saga of casting on the right number of stitches to make the Rebelle Wingspan I have triumphed.  I cast on 75 sts and knitted a few rows Monday evening while watching the TV.  This morning I laid it next to my previous Wingspan Redux (so named because it got started 3 or 6 times before I was happy with it) and it's exactly right, so now I can just mindlessly knit on it not needing to think.  Thinking, it slows down the work.  (remember to make a note on the project page in Ravelry, Barbara)

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