I have an embarrassingly large stack of novelty science tees, far more than any self respecting scientist should probably own. I mostly only wear them at weekends and as PJs but occasionally I sneak one in at work, people seem to get a kick out of self-proclaimed nerdery. I came across as stack of mens large science themed t-shirts in my school's thrift store and for 50c a piece I could not leave them. Since a) they originated from someone at my workplace and b) they were huge, I knew I'd have to refashion them.
I've refashioned a
couple of
t-shirts before by just winging it, cutting off collars and sleeves while retaining original shoulder seams and bottom hems, and hoping for the best when it came to the final product. This time I decided to try something new and use a pattern.
I chose the
Colette Sorbetto pattern because I've
made it before and because it was free! Based on my previous experience I cut out the size 2 but followed the size 10 lines at the armpit and extended straight down at the bottom to the size 18 lines to add additional length. I folded under the pleat section because I knew I didn't want one on this top. I centered the pattern piece on the logo, traced in chalk and cut out the front....
... then I repeated the process for the back.
I sewed up the top according to the pattern instructions, putting in the bust darts before seaming the shoulders and sides with french seams. I tried it on and thought it was a little big but decided to go ahead and hem the neck and armholes by simply folding under and doing two rows of top stitching hoping that loose fitting would work for me.
I was a big WHOMP WHOMP. It was huge! So here I employed my tried and true winging it method and traced around a tee that fits well, pinned and re-sewed the side french seams making sure to line up the already sewn arm and bottom hems exactly.
Much better!
It's still a very simple t-shirt with no embellishment other than the original, but it's an improvement over my previous refashions in several ways. Since the neckline was traced from a pattern it's much more symmetrical and the shoulder straps fall in the correct place to cover bra straps. Secondly, since I made completely new seams there is less bulk at the shoulder and the shirt is actually a length I like. Win!
