This is my first make since Me Made May - a
MariaDenmark Kirsten kimono t-shirt. I often name my makes after whatever I've been listening to most when cutting it out/sewing it up, however this make came together so quickly, quite late on on a Sunday night that I don't think I even had the radio on so I'm afraid there's no fancy name. Can I just say how great this pattern is! I was a bit worried at first as it doesn't include seam allowances but I'd read a few reviews where folk had said they didn't bother to add a seam allowance and it worked out. This sounded good to me so I just went with it, cut out a size small and it worked out fine. Well, as you can see from my smug face below I think it worked out more than fine, I'm really happy with it!
I should have taken a better photo from the side but you can kind of see
I've made a not-bad job of matching up the stripes at the side - not
perfect but almost there. I love this stripey fabric, it feels really good quality and, unlike my
jersey Banksia, the stripes aren't just painted on. The fit under the arms is perfect, an area I'm realising I have problems with, and the length is pretty spot on. Niggles? My neckband - I don't think I really understood the instructions properly for this stage and am not sure I attached it properly, plus I've managed to stretch it out a bit when sewing it on, as you can see below. However I do like the effect of the stripes going in the opposite direction.
I quite like when other bloggers break down the cost of the make, any problems/issues, etc so I think I'll try and do that more regularly.
Pattern:
Maria Denmark Kirsten kimono t-shirt - Free!!
Fabric: striped jersey from John Lewis, £14 a metre. Only 1 metre needed (still have a wee bit left over)
Notions: I already had white thread, a twin needle and a jersey needle so I didn't need anything extra for this, except the greaseproof paper I used to trace off the pattern.
Problems/Issues: Does anyone have any tips for keeping the neckline steady and stopping it from stretching out? I was also being very lazy to begin with and left my pins in when sewing the should seams - you can see what happened in the photo below, it's resulted in slipped stitches with the zigzag stitch. Nothing major though and apart from that and the neckband no problems at all. The instructions are very clear and I had no problems printing this PDF off to scale.
Total cost: £14
Will I make this again: For sure! I'd also like to try extending this and making a kimono style dress as I think it would be so comfy for work. I might try and branch out from stripes though as I have so many stripey clothes! However stripes are always so tempting, especially
Lula Louise's great idea for making a striped cap sleeve dress, I think this tee shirt pattern would be the perfect base for that.
This also counts as part of
Indie Pattern Month
