Sunday, 15 January 2012

Sewing for Boys - The Sew-a-long, Project One, The Raw-edge Tee

I was so excited when I saw the first reviews for "Sewing for Boys" by Shelly Figueroa and Laren LePage that I entered every single stop of the "Sewing for Boys Blog Tour" hosted by Sewmamasew and luckily one myself a copy from The Southern Institute Blog.

Then during my Blog-Hopping (housework delaying) I came across a year long sew-a-long being hosted at Boy, Oh, Boy, Oh, Boy so I quickly signed up.

The first months pattern is "The Ragged Edge Tee".

Charity shop T'shirts from Gap & Fat Face
My Boys are never short of T'shirts (thanks to car boots and the cheap prices of supermarket clothes) but I thought that I would have a go anyway.  I have never sewn a knit fabric so I thought that it would be a good skill builder.  I also had a tutorial for Mola or Reverse applique in a back issue of Sew Hip that I wanted to try out. After failing to find any suitable old Tees in the Hubby's wardrobe, I picked a few up in the local charity shop for only 50p each.

So I cut out pattern for age 4-5 but added the length from the size 6-7 for my tall & skinny 4 yr old. I also used the hem from the upcycled Tees at the bottom of the shirt and on the sleeves/cuffs.

I then added the applique to the front piece before sewing together the pieces following the instructions from the book. (I will do a seperate tutorial for the applique method)

The Tee went together pretty easily. However, I decided to sew the side seams inside the Tee and not on the outside as per the book.  My machine has a flat-bed and I couldnt work out how I was going to fit the sleeves under the needle to top stitch. (and I actually prefered the neater finish) I think my seam allowance was too big and I was bit worried that the tee would be too tight, but it actually fits just right.

The collar was a complete nightmare however!  I took the advice from the authors and added a bit of length to the pattern piece, but I think I could have done with an extra inch.  In the end I pulled the pattern piece really hard to stretch it then used hundreds of pins to secure it.  I ended up sticking the pins in the wrong way, so got lots of fingerpricks whilst trying to remove them whilst sewing!



I am really pleased with how it has turned out and I think it will look even better once washed & the ragged edges go all curly.  And best of all The Little Man LOVES it!!

To see more examples of garments made from "Sewing for Boys" check out the groups on Flickr - "Sewing for Boys - The Book" and "Sewing For Boys the sew along"
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5 comments:

  1. Rufusdog5215 January 2012 at 18:04

    Well done, its a fabulous t-shirt xx When I made myself some t-shirts before I just cut a long strip of t-shirt fabric from across the width of the fabric so it is stretchy and then used it like biasbinding around the neck.. You can pull it a bit tight as you sew.

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  2. Unknown16 January 2012 at 09:58

    I think after all the struggles, this came out lovely. I love the applique. Is that silver thread you used or paint?

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  3. Tammy16 January 2012 at 10:09

    Thanks for the lovely comments!

    That is basically what I did Rufus, except the piece I used did not have much stretch to it, if using upcycled knit again, I would add much more length.

    I used grey thread because I had already wound the bobbin to make-up the shirt. I have a very old Bernina and although I have lots of bobbins, only two work without "issues". (the other bobbin is also fully wound for another wip)

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  4. Tammy16 January 2012 at 10:13

    I will try & post today, a tutorial for the applique.

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  5. Highland Monkey's16 January 2012 at 18:53

    That is totally cool and doubly so as the little man thinks so as well! It's about time that boys got a look in on the sewing books, wish they were out when mine were little.

    p.s. I'ts not my shop but a cafe/shop that opens in the spring.

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