I noticed Stephanie’s blog when she auditioned for Sew-vivor, and I thought her project was so cute. I also thought the name of her blog was adorable. I’m glad she’s here on the blog today, sharing a fun project!
Hello FEA readers! I am Stephanie and I blog over at The Petite Sewist where I show off my sewing creations, share pattern reviews, tutorials, petite alterations and style tips. I would love it if you stopped by and said hello.
Since you will not be cutting this on the fold, you’ll have to add 3/8″ to center front. Okay, that was the hard part. Now cut out your pattern pieces:
The last step is to cut a strip of fabric out for the neckline binding. It needs to be 1 1/2″ wide and the length of your entire neckline, including seam allowances at center front. Fold the strip in half and mark the fold with a pin.
Note: Before I cut out my nice knit fabric, I made a muslin (a trial run) of this pattern in an ugly green knit I had lying around. This helped me to see if I needed to make any fitting adjustments so I didn’t ruin my striped knit.
The first step is to place the left and right top fronts on the back top right sides together. Sew the seams at the shoulders and the sides with 3/8″ seam allowance.
DO NOT sew the center front at this time. I know it’s hard to tell, but it remains unsewn in this picture. I used a serger for my seams. If you don’t have a serger, you can use a zig-zag stitch on a regular sewing machine.
I incorporated stay tape in my shoulder seam to avoid stretching with time. This is optional. (For more about stay tape, click here.) Iron your seams to one side.
It’s time to attach the neck binding to your neckline. Remember that pin you used to mark the center of the neckline binding? Place your binding right sides together along the neckline, matching the pin up with the center of the back neckline. Pin around the neckline.
Okay, so as you can see my neck binding is pinned around the length of the neckline. Sew a seam 3/8″ from the edge with your sewing machine using a ballpoint needle. (These needles are best for sewing knits. A regular needle could snag your fabric.) Iron your seam facing up, towards your neck.
Fold the top of the neckline binding down 3/8″.
Fold it over 3/8″ again, so that it meets your seam.
Fold and pin all the way around your neckline. This folding takes place on the wrong side of the fabric. Now, flip over your shirt to the right side. Stitch in the ditch of where you made the neckline seam. Make sure to catch the fold of the fabric on the wrong side so that your neckline binding is completely enclosed.
Now it’s time to close up the center front. Place the center fronts right sides together and match up all of the stripes, pinning as you go. Take it to the sewing machine and sew a seam 3/8″ all the way down. Iron the seam open.
Finished seam close-up:
To finish the edges of the sleeves, serge the edges first. (If you don’t have a serger, a zig-zag finish will do.) Fold the edges over 3/4″ and pin. Sew sleeve hem edge using a twin needle.
And here is the finished sleeve hem:
To finish the shirt bottom edge, serge the edge (or zig-zag), fold over 1″ and finish the edge with a twin needle at the sewing machine. A twin needle is a must for knits. It has two lines of stitching on top and a zig-zag on the underside of the fabric. This gives the seam a little stretch which prevents your seam from breaking as you move around.
The finished product:
A breezy top perfect for summer!
I love these diagonal lines. They elongate my torso. They emphasize the shoulders and meet perfectly at the center.
Thanks for inviting me, Rachel! Have a great day everyone!
-Stephanie