What’s in this post:
- Introduction (”A short love story”)
- Creating a copy of my T-shirt
- Accepting a lost battle
- Dawson top (by Helen’s closet) pattern review
- Back to copying
- Final words
A short love story
Swipe one to the right. Swipe another one to the left. Swipe right once more and…
…it’s a match 🔥
Where are you? Well, of course, staring at a T-shirt rack. The moment your eyes notice a something 💡 It could be the item, but equally, it could still disappoint you in a very personal way. Perhaps you’re not a fan of ruffles. Or perhaps it’s a v-neck instead of crew 😒
Let’s try it on and have a closer look 🔎 The practical of us will go through a little checklist before accepting any new members to their wardrobe club: looks good? price? can I reasonably take care of it? does it go with my other clothes? but does it go with my other clothes, honestly?!
Check, check, check ✅ It’s a happy day – you have just bought your favourite T-shirt!
But here’s the dark truth they don’t want you to know… The more you wear it, the more it’s worn. Shocking 🙀 but you will get over it someday. So what happens when it’s the end-of-lifetime for your daily partner?
You should throw a little goodbye party. This might initially sound crazy, but 1) you get to have a party 2) you get to have a party. Alternatively, you can try to create a copy of your T-shirt! The nice thing about this option is that it still doesn’t clash with a party 🎉
Creating a copy of my T-shirt
Note: sadly, I didn’t find any pictures of me wearing this T-shirt prior to cutting it up. Its main interesting feature was a twisted knot in the front. Now please use your imagination, thank you 🔔
In a nutshell, I cut up my T-shirt at the seams and used the resulting pieces to draw patterns. Then cut those out from a new fabric, sewn them together and made adjustments.
Simple.
Ha. Not quite. Guess how many versions I ended up making? 4 of the front piece, 7 for the back and 1 for the sleeve. That’s… a lot of patience. I sure hope to have a statue dedicated to me somewhere.
This was my first experience working with knits (= fabrics that typically stretch a lot). The first version was never going to work and I happily embraced that. However, sometimes it felt like playing whack-a-mole: the minute you adjust one poorly fitting area, a new issue pops somewhere else. In fact, I can imagine some sarcastic remarks these patterns could be making behind my back:
“Did you see? She just made this longer 😂”
“Well, too bad, because the side seam was left unchanged and will no longer fit 🙃”
“Wait until you see all the excess I created around the armhole 🤩”
“How charming, we simply must continue doing this! 🥂”
Finally, when I try on nth version of my creation, I see this 😠:
Accepting a lost battle
And here comes the moment of clarity: this isn’t going to work.
This project has only been paying me in unhappy coins for the last few weeks. So, I asked myself: “am I having fun?” The answer was no. It was no longer a challenge I wanted to tackle, but instead a chore I “should” finish. And that is definitely not the attitude our hobbies deserve.
So decided to pivot. I found a T-shirt pattern that already has the neckline I like ⭐, the sleeves I like 💖, the shape I like 🥰. The lucky choice was Dawson top from Helen’s Closet Patterns. It’s an excellent starting point as it’s only missing the twisted knot in the front and is a little too long. I was hoping those are the simpler parts of the construction, so I would be able to alter them without much of a problem.
Dawson top (by Helen’s closet) pattern review
Once again, this is the link to the pattern.
To start with, I made the T-shirt as-is, using View C (scoop neck and short sleeves). This is my “sanity check”: does it even fit me, is this the right size, etc.
The process was pretty straightforward. My thoughts on the pattern:
- PDF pattern has size layers, yay.
- The instructions are clear and easy to follow.
- There are extra tips & tricks on sewing with knits
- Wide range of sizes, but also tips on how to tailor the pattern further.
- Quick, 0.5 – 1 day project.
- Unsure if there’s an industry standard, but this pattern uses dark grey to indicate the wrong side of fabric. All other patterns I’ve used so far use dark grey for the right side 🤷♀️ This is minor, though.
- Overall: recommend ✅
This is what mine turned out like:
Ultra comfortable. Most likely it will fall under “lounging-around-the-house-wear”. Which has a strong overlap with “working-from-home-wear” 😆…
So, just as I expected (it’s like I know myself a little?), I got back my inspiration and once again found joy at the sewing machine ✨ Next I’m going to try to alter this pattern to have the twist. Though… let’s hope there are no more plot twists here 😇
Back to copying
So we meet again.
This time I only needed to make 2 more boring versions and I got the T-shirt to look almost like my old top. And just like that, the case was closed 👩⚖️
Here are some photos I’m very excited to show 🌸:
I simply adore this soft floral fabric I rescued from the off-cuts section in my local store. It’s sweet, it’s garden and I recommend pairing it with an afternoon tea ☕🧁
I indeed was even planning to prepare something like this after I’m done:
Turns out, it’s a lot of work ™️. Just like trying to design patterns with 0 experience in pattern design.
Final words
This is my first blog post and I am so excited to publish it! I hope it was as entertaining to read as it was for me to write.
If there’s one thing, I’d love you to take away, it’s this: always ask yourself if you’re having fun with your hobby. For example, not many people know this, but it’s actually completely legal to stop reading a book half-way through and never finish it. Remember to enjoy yourself 💖
See you at the next pink adventure!
