Thursday 6 November 2014

Boat neck top: Winter wardrobe basics

You'd be forgiven for thinking that anyone who makes many of their own clothes spends their life in a series of dresses and beautiful shoes.  The reality is that my day job involves a work t shirt, hoodie and Nike air dry track pants and when I come home from work, especially in colder weather, I change into jersey tops and skirts or yoga pants.  I have a few Uniqlo tops with a boat neck shape that work well for me and I wanted to replicate the same neck line.  I think I've cracked it.


This is the much used and loved Meg McElwee scoop neck long sleeve T from her Cratsy Sewing with Knits Class  I've mentioned this class many times here.  It is frequently on offer in the Craftsy sales and promo emails and I love the fit.  The simple shape makes it a great base for other knit styles and I have the confidence now to play with it a little.   I redrew the pattern and redrew the neck on the front and back with a  ¼" seam allowance to turn for the neck edge.


 The fabric is a wonderfully easy- to-use interlock from The Village Haberdashery.  There are lots of colour options and if you are new to sewing with knits, this is a great fabric to start with as it lies flat when you are cutting out (unlike single jersey which curls up) and is straightforward to pin an sew.  You can read about different kinds of knit fabrics on Rachel's blog.


The back shoulders have knit stay tape pressed on to stop any stretching before the shoulder seams are overlocked.  I use my overlocker for all the seams and my usual sewing machine with a twin needle for all the hems.  I took a lot of care sewing the neck as I didn't want it to stretch out of shape.  The fabric is quite thick so I lowered my foot pressure to 1 (the highest is 7) when sewing the hem with the twin needle and used a long stitch.  I have some tips on hemming knits here.


I softened the lower hem with a little inward curve at the side seams.   The only way to match the stripes is to pin every stripe.  I use Prym ballpoint pins.


Hurrah for a winter basics!  Inevitably, more are planned.


sib blog

10 comments:

  1. This is basicallyy perfect tee! Love it!

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  2. You make it sound so simple, yet the pictures show how absolutely gorgeous! Well done!!

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  3. I love this shirt. I keep trying to sew with knits, I've had mixed success. I think my biggest hurdle is finding patterns that work for me and/or my daughter. You are inspiring me to keep trying.

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  4. Looks lovely Kerry the kind of top I love to have in my wardrobe. Shop bought ones I find are too short in the body. The fabric looks great too.

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  5. That's gorgeous! Your stripe matching is amazing! Can't beat wardrobe staples, I really need to do some more.

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  6. I love this top. My wardrobe if full of tops similar to this from the likes of uniqlo and boden. Although I'm not sure they match the stripes so meticulously as you!

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  7. Just my sort of top. The thing that makes me smile the most though, is that amazing stripe matching.

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  8. I love boat necks, I think they are one of the more flattering types of tops and this one looks fab on you :)

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  9. You did a great job ! I am so encouraged by your talent. I just may take a class in January.

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