KCW Spring 2013 – Holy High Speed Tee Shirts, Batman – FO 5 & 6/2013

I really didn’t think I’d get any sewing done yesterday. I’d been at a PTFA cinema club all afternoon and we didn’t get home from school until gone 6.30pm.  As bedtime is normally around 7pm, this was late by our standards. By the time the kids were abed I was one tired mummy and not really up for anything except sitting on the sofa waiting for the Great British Sewing Bee to start.  But I thought I’d just have half an hour in the sewing loft….

40 minutes later I had the first tee shirt finished!

I’ve never made a garment so quickly in my life.

I did take a short-cut – the original tee shirt that this was upcycled from was a v-neck, and I was a little short on length for the fronts and backs…so this version is straight across at the hem rather than shaped as per the pattern. I cut all 4 pieces on the original hemlines – saving myself having to stitch the bottom of the shirt and the sleeves.

I’d been really reluctant to purchase a pattern for such a simple garment, but I’m really glad I did. This is perfect.  Sure, I could have drafted it myself, but it took all of 15 minutes to print, tape, pin and cut out. Sometimes it really is worth spending the money for someone else’s (superior) expertise and to save yourself some time.  No way could I have drafted this in that space of time.

Cost wise, the pattern came in at a little over £5 at the current exchange rate. As the fabric is upcycled and the thread was already in my stash, each of these little tees cost less than £3. And they are a really good weight of jersey, so perfect for spring days when it’s a bit chilly.  £3 will normally get you a skimpy supermarket tee which will shrink the first time you wash it and be constructed from much thinner jersey, so these represent very good value for money in my book!

Also, going forward, I won’t need to include the price of the pattern in the cost of future tees.

This is a very well drafted pattern. I swear that any beginner who can pin fabric together and sew a straight line could make this shirt and get a great result. And you don’t need an overlocker (serger).

I can see myself making this over and over again…and making cute little tee shirt dresses too. A Blank Slate indeed!

Today I also finished the red/cream striped tee.

Again I cut the sleeves using the existing hems, but this one had sufficient fabric in the original shirt to allow me to cut the shaped hemline.  I finished it with a quick twin-needle hem

I am in love with this pattern.  It’s unisex, so great for The Boy too – he’s a small growth spurt away from being out of all of his tee shirts, and as he flatly refuses to wear a cotton button through shirt this pattern will be a life saver.

I’m planning a photoshoot for the weekend to capture these tees and their matching shorts (the blue pair is nearly done!), together with a couple of other garments that were finished before KCW began, but still haven’t been showcased here.

Now…the waistband and cuffs of the blue shorts are calling…hopefully I’ll get them finished tonight too!