My oldest boy was with me when I wandered down Wal-mart’s fabric aisle last week and he fell in love with this reindeer “sweater” printed cotton woven fabric. He begged for it to be for his Christmas shirt, but didn’t want a button down shirt like I made his brother. So I decided to try using it as the front of Parker’s Vintage Fit T-Shirt and, luckily, it worked out fabulously!
I knew the v-neck option would be big enough to fit over his head with minimal stretching, which was vital because the woven cotton wouldn’t allow the front to stretch. To contrast the white background of the woven, I picked out a stretchy black cotton/spandex knit to use for the back, sleeves, and neckband.
I wavered on whether or not to size up, but ended up cutting his regular size and then using a 1/4 inch seam allowance on the side seams rather than the intended 3/8 inch (this adds an extra 1/2 inch in circumference to the body of the shirt). He pulled it on and off by himself without trouble, so I’m happy with my sizing decision.
The only other change I made in construction was to stay stitch the front neckline before applying the neckband. Stay stitching means to stitch in the seam allowance of a curve or bias cut edge, stitching from outer to center on each side. It helps the shirt’s neckline maintain its shape during the neckband attachment. Before sewing on the neckband, I also clipped the seam allowance from the raw edge in to the stay stitching at the V, so that I wouldn’t get a pucker when putting on the neckband (this isn’t necessary when using knit since it stretches into place).
My son was thrilled with his new shirt and I was thrilled that it was so much easier than a button down shirt! I decided to do short sleeves because he’ll be wearing it under a corduroy blazer for Christmas and I didn’t want him to get too warm during church.
This boy is so excited that Kymy published another “boy pattern.” He told me last summer to tell “that pattern lady” to make some boy patterns so he could be on the blog, too! He was apparently jealous of his sisters getting new shirts and getting to model for me! LOL Now, of course, he wants me to make him one every week! Haha!
Happy Sewing!! ~ Joelle
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