Sunday 4 January 2015

A Tee for Mr. T

It's no surprise that I love buying clothes as much as I love sewing for my little treasures.  And in lieu of the plethora of department and brand name stores that other capital cities are blessed with, this generally means shopping online for this Darwin resident!  The upside to this of course is that I can shop at anytime, have things delivered to my door and know that it is unlikely we will see any other little people wearing the same outfit on any given sunset market night. 

Since having a baby girl, I've acquainted myself (code name for: purchased!) with a few (read: MANY) girls clothing patterns. There seems to be so many variations on the humble skirt, pinafore, tunic or party dress, slacks or harems, blouse and romper, that I find it completely overwhelming... where to start, what is a priority sew (which given the endless quantity of clothing we as a family own, pretty much counts for nothing!), which fabric I can use from the stash, which patterns I have printed, what I have notions for... and then, sometimes, I have a few on the go at once, or can't get started because I have too much nervous energy to risk implanting in a garment!

But when it comes to sewing for boys - Hmmm. There really is not alot of choice, even still to this day.  In fear of offending anyone, I qualify my statement - there are plenty of shorts and trouser patterns, fewer button up shirts or tshirts, some nice jackets and vests.  But seriousy, they really don't get my heart racing and scrambling for my wallet like the girls offerings do.  I have started to collect a neat little group of boys patterns, however, and definitely aim to sew more for my little men this year.  One surprise that I have stumbled across, can actually be credited to my mother's collection from the early 1980's.  A KnitWit pattern featuring knit tshirts! Perfect for boys that live in shorts and tees, ' all . year . round '. 

I've tried sewing with knits a few times, with varied success.  The first time was making a hoodie around 10 years ago, not too long after receiving my Janome sewing machine.  The cuffs were a little too tight, and the fabric was cute, but too thin to wear during a cold Winters' day in Hobart.  So after gleaning some 'expert' tips from various blogs, and absorbing the 'tricks' and 'hints' from a great little article in One Thimble e-zine, I embarked on my knit-challenge - a tee for my Mr. T.

And it was not as scary as what I had imagined!



How about it?


 


Mr T. really did make me smile as he waltzed around the annual agricultural Show in his fresh new tee, turning a few heads. 





 Please don't shock yourself by examining my finishing too closely, as it was a bit rough'n'ready. Like running with the current black overlocking thread. And not folding the hems under enough. And failing to compare finished pattern measurements with Mr T's actual.

To be honest, it really wasn't one of my neatest sews, but I was so pleased I had completed something for one of the boys, using a [cute!] knit fabric cupled with my trademark tag and button, and didn't require any other notions (normally projects get shelved at the point of discovering this sometime in to the sew).   Go ME!



And yes, given this was a 'proto-type' of sorts, I have since gone crazy buying up a few knits fabrics, and even cut out and assembled a few tees for my youngest DS, Mr E.