Bodies are totally weird, and it's not all of the self-help-disguised-as-pattern-fitting books I've been reading. I don't have a body problem or a body image problem. I do have a t-shirt problem.
I have come to understand that motherhood is hard on one's wardrobe. When H was very new, there were all sorts of explosive events. I held out hope that my clothes would bear less evidence of this as he grew. As it turns out, I was wrong. Life is beautifully messier for mamas.
I bought three decent t-shirts at the beginning of the summer thinking that I would be able to include these in my Fall work rotation. Wrong. At the same time, my resolve to actually wear things that fit has strengthened. So, here's to learning to sew with knits, choosing and fitting a pattern for a t-shirt, and going from there.
I started with Pamela's Patterns #104 The Perfect T-Shirt. I was drawn to this one because of the dart.
I made it up sans alterations (who knows -- I'm a knit novice, right?) other than sleeve length suspecting that I would need to make some changes to the length (of the body) and dart position. Yep. Here's v1.
Based on where this is pulling, the dart is indeed too high, as is the waist.
Here's v2. Changes include dart position (but not length -- that seems fine), waist placement, and length. I'm quite satisfied with v2, even with the wildly conservative neckline and very odd tissue burnout.
Snug, you say? Why yes! I had an, erm, serger incident: I nicked the bodice front close (but not that close) to the seam allowance, so I took a much deeper seam than I would have otherwise done.
It fits (more or less)! And it's knit! And it took less than two hours from alterations and layout to done!
Luckily, I also bought the companion pattern, #107 New Necklines and Sleeves for The Perfect T-Shirt, so I have some options for v3 and beyond.
This mama is happy - the t-shirt problem is nearly solved.
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