Fruit From My Hands

Now that I have some other projects out of the way, I finally found the time for some selfish sewing and testing the Concord T-Shirt from Cashmerette.  I have not been this excited about a pattern or collection of patterns in a very long time.  I am so tired of trying to find some way to alter a standard B cup bodice to fit around my girls, 50F’s.

Using a coupon code, I ordered the paper printed version of the pattern.  As large as I am, I knew there would be no way I would have the patience to tape that entire grid of pages together.  Let me say that was a very good decision.  The paper pattern comes in a nice card stock envelope and the instruction booklet is of better quality than necessary.  It was worth the extra money.

I began by tracing a size 28 with the G/H cup size on some very thin scrap sew-in interfacing.  I graded the pattern up to what I estimated was a size 32 with a 62 inch bust.  I don’t like my tops to have negative ease so I tended toward the larger size.  I graded the waist out to 56 inches.  I chose the v-neck, the long sleeve and the tunic length.

My fabric was what I hoped would be a wearable muslin.  It was some sort of stretch terry that I found in the Spot-A-Bolt sale last winter at my local Hancock Fabrics.  (Let’s all pause for a moment of silence for Hancock’s untimely demise.  Sadness!)  I usually snap a pic of the bolt end while I stand in line at the cutting table but when I cataloged this fabric into my stash I could not find it.  For the first time in my life, I had the forethought to check for placement of motifs in the fabric to be sure they did not line up with any prominent body parts.  I think I was successful.

Results:  I am very pleased with this pattern!  It gives me so much hope for sewing garments that will look good on me.  I am not a fan of sewing knits but this one turned out fabulous.  I have some tweaks to make on the final tracing of the pattern pieces.  As one can see in my pic, the v-neck is too wide on my shoulders.  It is also too long for my liking but that is an easy fix.  I will simply re-draw it based on an old tried-and-true method for drafting v-neck t-shirt necks that I learned many years ago in a serger class.

The sleeves fit very well with the exception that they are too short.  Nothing but a tall man’s shirt has ever had sleeves long enough for me so that was expected.  I will add two inches in length there and I will be good. The most powerful thing is the shirt fits well around the girls AND fits around the abdomen!

I was so encouraged that I promptly purchased Cashmerette’s new Harrison shirt pattern.  My favorite thing to sew is creative blouses using quilter’s cotton.  There are so many colors and design possibilities.   If I can get a basic tried-and-true button-up woven shirt pattern, the world is my oyster!