Roped Into Coral

The nautical influence continues -- this time it's a cap sleeve tee in coral (which always reminds me of reefs), with a "rope" detail at the neckline.

Somone forgot to conceal the camera remote. Oops... 

I used iCandy handmade's Perfect fitted cap sleeve tee tutorial (that's a mouthful!). I made some adjustments from her pattern, since I wanted to raise the neckline and narrow the neckhole width. I also had to adjust the side seams, as it was too big. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. For my next tee, I'll be drafting my own pattern -- I took this patternmaking workshop by Cal Patch during my one-month Creativebug subscription.* I'm looking forward to designing a tee based on my personal measurements -- and I learned so much about pattern drafting in general!

But I digress. The fabric for this tee was a coral cotton spandex from Girl Charlee (no longer available, it seems). Their cotton spandex is delightful! It's the perfect weight for a tee, and so far I've found the durability quite acceptable. It's not going to last for years, but the cost-per-wear ratio is entirely satisfactory to me ($6 for a yard, so if I wear it twenty times it's only $0.30 per wear).

After finishing the neckline with a band, I took two narrow strips of jersey and twisted them as I applied them to the tee. Quite honestly, I just plopped the tee on Yvonne (my dressform), pinned the "rope" on, and stitched it by hand while it was still on the dressform. Worked like a charm.

Knits are definitely the "fabric" of my life as a mom (pun intended). Their stretchiness makes them both comfortable and transitional (early pregnancy, post partum, nursing, and "normal" wear). From my experience, though, it's very difficult to find thrifted (or inexpensive) knit tops that aren't too tight, too revealing, or too worn out. Being able to choose the color, style, and fit of my knit tops is such a luxury! As soon as I get a basic tee pattern worked up, I'm going to summon the nerve to experiment with collars, plackets, ruffles, and such.

The weather here in Florida continues to be forbidding, but my sewing forecast is looking bright. And stretchy.


* You can use the coupon code AUGPROMO to get your first month of Creativebug for $9.95! Presumably that expires at the end of August? I did about $100 worth of workshops in one month -- I made sure to save patterns and write down the instructions, since you lose access to the workshops when you cancel your monthly subscription (buying the workshops individually gives you lifetime access, but it's obviously more expensive if you want to take multiple workshops).