A 30 minute T- shirt

A few months ago I was shopping in the garment district with some of my sewing buddies we were in one of the hole in the wall stores on 38th Street .As often is the case, there was a box of remnants near the cash register. one of the remnants was a three yard length of a dirty textured white cotton /synthetic blend. I bought the piece for maybe $5. I took it home and washed it and it came out fine. I really liked the puckery knit.

I thought I would make a 3/4 sleeved scoop neck t- shirt. I had made one out of a different bargain white lacey knit a while back , but I had made it too short. That shirt was my first successful attempt at a set in sleeve. I was immensely proud of that sleeve but the short length made that shirt not all that wearable. The puckeryfabric has been sitting in a pile in my sewing space waiting to be made up.

My husband has been working nearly every waking hour for the past few months. I wandered into our bedroom at 11 last night to retrieve that short shirt to use it as a pattern. My husband was hard at work and asked me what I was up to. I told him my plan and told him that by the time that Saturday Night Live was starting, the shirt would be completed. He expressed some doubts, but although I missed the first sketch ( I decided to clean up my mess before watching TV)my shirt was done. The neckline is edged with black velvet fold over elastic, the seams and hems are all serged. I may attempt something fancier at a later time.

I know that this particular shape of t-shirt is not the current style, but I like the way they look on me. Each and every time I get a set in sleeve right I am so completely pleased with myself. Each time I get it right it feels like I won the lottery. The books all make it seem so hard. it really isn’t. I will have to put some thought into how to do a tutorial that makes the process understandable to other people.

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Connecting with the past

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sarah in nyc

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