Finally! The write up about my Dolce & Gabbana inspired embellished Burdastyle 2012-09-123 T-shirt. I was debating whether to hold off until I make a matching gold A-line skirt to do style shots with. But that’ll take too long and I’ll have forgotten all my construction details. So here goes…
The Pattern
I chose this because I wanted a T-Shirt sloper from Burda to gauge the fit of Burda knit tops. This one is perfect because if you join the front yoke to the front bodice, it’s a very basic T-shirt. The neckline is high enough to be jewel neckline that you’d expect of a sloper. The style is fitted enough. The fitted long sleeve again makes it a good baseline to gauge design variation.
The only thing I’m not sure about is the ease in the sleeve cap. Is that really necessary in a T-shirt made from stretchy material?
The Embellishment Inspiration
Style Shots & Mug Shots
Fabric & Notions Used
- Light Gold Micro Wet Look lycra-polyester from Tissu Fabrics / Tia Knight (unfortunately not available in this color anymore)
- MaxiLock serger thread. 3/8” clear elastic. Vilene Bias Tape.
- Jacquard Lumiere 561 Metallic Gold, Jacquard Lumiere 552 Bright Gold, and Jacquard Lumiere 565 Metallic Bronze fabric paint
- Wings drawing: Doodle Wings embroidery design from Urban Threads
Size Used
Size 34. Going by sizing chart instruction I would be a 38. Going by FFRP‘s instruction (chest/high-bust used as bust & choosing smaller size when in between) I’d be a 34.
Changes Made
Fitting changes = T-Shirt Block
- Removed 3/4″ from front & back shoulder seam. (1/4″ of the front amount was done at the front yoke seam to preserve neckline curve. The armscye curve no longer match the original, but matches the curve adjustment below quite well.)
- Sloping Shoulder Adjustment: removed additional 3/8″ from front & 3/4″ from back shoulders at armscye end. Lowered armscye 1/2″.
- Wide Shoulder Adjustment: extended shoulder by 1/8″
- Protruding Shoulder Blade /Rounded Upper Back Adjustments: extended back shoulder additional 1/4″. But in retrospect I think I’ve overdone these. The difference between front & back was a whopping 3/4″. Even with the stretchiness of the fabric, I got a little bit of puckering in the back shoulder. Oops.
- Narrow Back Adjustment: removed 3/8″-1/2″ from back side seam.
- Wide Arm Joint Adjustment: scooped out a bit from lower part of armscyes – 3/8″ front, 1/2″ back. Extended side seams at underarm out by 1/4″. (So back underarm end up with a net change of -1/8″.)
- Adjusted side seam curve for shorter torso – curve back out to hip higher up than in original pattern. (This was basically copied from my previous Cowl-Neck T-Shirt Block based on McCall 6078.)
- Lowered neckline at center back 3/8″.
- Thin Arm Adjustment: removing 5/8″ from both sides, but tapered to 3/8″ at underarm to match Wide Arm Joint Adjustment on bodice.
- Reduced the cap height by 1/2″ & adjusted the armscye curve. This pretty much removed all of the extra ease in the sleeve cap that I was complaining about further up.
- Shortened the sleeve by 1″.
Design changes
- Redrew the front yoke seam line so that it’s more slanted. I’ve removed quite a bit from the front shoulder, so I was a bit worried that a short almost horizontal yoke might emphasize my relatively broad shoulder.
- Lowered the neckline 1/2″ all around.
- Shorten hem 2-1/8″ in the back & 2-5/8 in the front for a more flattering & versatile length between high hip and full hip.
- Replaced original facing & back neck opening with stretchy self-fabric tape facing – I want to say bias tape, but for most knit the stretchiest grain would be crossgrain rather than bias.
- I used the two sides of the same fabric for the contrasting pieces, and matched the sleeves to the front yokes for a pseudo-raglan look on the front.
Verdict on the Instruction
I didn’t really follow the instruction as I’ve made a few changes. Plus I wanted to work out a more efficient way to sew up a T-shirt and try out some of the techniques mentioned in my Singer Sewing with Knits book.
Here’s how I constructed this one:
- Before I start, I spray starched and ironed the fabric edges because this one LOOOOOOOOVEs to curl. I also spray starched the edges of the pieces after tracing out the patterns.
- Next I embellished with fabric paint on the uncut pieces. Embellishment details in my earlier post.
- Sewing-wise, I started with the front yoke like in the pattern instruction, but pressed the seam allowance down (to de-emphasize a broad shoulder). I also sewed one shoulder seam at the same time (stablized with clear elastic & pressed towards the back), and overlocked the bodice and sleeves hem edges.
- Next is attaching neck tape facing to the neckline. Because the neckline hasn’t been sewn closed at the other shoulder seam, this is essentially a straight line rather than a circle. So the short ends of the facing are lined up with either ends of the straight line – ie at front and back neck edges of the other shoulder seam. Facing is then understitched – seam allowance pressed towards facing, edge stitching on the facing close to neckline seam.
- The other shoulder seam is then stitched along with the short edges of the facing – effectively an extension of the shoulder seam on the neck side. The facing is then turned under twice – like typical hems – and stitched in place from the right side of the bodice.
- Sleeves are attached to the bodice next.
- Then sleeve and side seams as one continuous seam line.
- Finally sleeve and bodice hemming.
The usual Walking Foot and stretch stitch on sewing machine advice applies. This time I tried to do as much on Bernie the serger as possible as Saffy the sewing machine was still unwell at the time.
My serger skill is still a bit dodgy. I tried step 1 without pins or basting and the ends didn’t line up. Urgh. Thankfully I discovered how easy it is to unpick the 3-thread overlock seam. Hmmm, should I be worried about the strength of these seams? Anyway, I ended up hand-basting most seams. It was still quicker than unpicking seams multiple times. Hopefully with more practice my serging skill will pass Great British Sewing Bee judging standards! LOL
Would I sew it again / Would I recommend it to others
You bet! Or at least the T-Shirt block I derived from it. Every girl needs a TNT T-Shirt pattern. This will be mine.
And I’m just drooling over the possible design variations this opens up!
I love how this T-shirt turned out. The neutral color goes well with so many other garments. And the shinier pseudo raglan sleeves reminds me of a suit of armor. Together with the Byzantine icon on the front and wings on the back it makes me feel like a foot soldier angel in God’s Army!
If you missed the previous posts, here’s the full thread of on my Burda 2012-09-123 adventure.
This is beautiful! And your list of adjustments is overwhelming. But you’ve got what you set out to get: a Burda sloper, which should make whipping up any Burda dress/top an easy peasy task now, right? 🙂
Yes, the adjustments when listed all out always seem ridiculously long, doesn’t it! When you’re doing it, it just seems like a tiny bit here and there, no big deal. Especially when you’re just tracing over a sloper like this – you don’t really bother measuring.
I do hope that with practice I’ll know in the future what’s worth adjusting and what to leave alone in design patterns.