Green tee (for your health)
This is a project I should have given up on at the beginning, but my legendary persistence ox-brained stubbornness kicked in, and I just had to see it through.
What happened was this: I’ve discovered that although it’s not hard to find gray or black or even red in men’s XXXL t-shirts, prettier colors — pinks and purples and yellows — are harder to come by. (I think it’s because large men are snatching up the pastel t-shirts faster than stores can stock them.)
Since the largest size available in this nice green was only a men’s XL, I decided to try it out — and there just wasn’t enough fabric. I ended up contorting the fabric all kinds of ways to make it fit the pattern. Even after redrafting the sleeve three times, the fabric for that piece was still about 2″ too narrow — so I actually stretched the sleeve that much to make it fit the armhole. I’m not usually much of a risk-taker in sewing, so for me this was: madness!
It turns out madness is fun. I’ve worked enough with costlier fabrics or things I’ve hand-embroidered — projects where if I goof it could be a real loss — that it’s nice to experiment and know that at worst I’ll have ruined an $8 t-shirt. I’m still not sure if I like the finished product (it usually takes me a couple times wearing it to decide whether I like something,) but even if I end up discarding it (or cutting it down for something for Mabel,) I learned some things from the experience. (Like, to buy a larger size tee to start with.)
May 13, 2008 at 11:02 pm
If I had a blog, people’s comments would totally be like, “How come you’re not funny like your sister?”
May 13, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Yeah, I’ve noticed that people always say things like that on blogs.
(What - ev - er!)
Anyway, I stoop low for the cause. You’re better off staying up there on higher ground.
Also, I wanted to tag you, but I didn’t know if you’d go for it since you’d either have to send your response to me to post, or post it in the comments. Maybe I’ll do an all-family meme/tag thing some time soon. But feel free to do the meme in the comments if you’re willing.
OH — and if you do get a blog, I will be your number one fan, and comment all the time, (and there will no mandatory humor levels.)
Lastly, I don’t know what scheme WordPress uses to generate those quilt avatars, but yours is particularly cool. I think it’s a sign . . . that whatever you touch will come out cool. Especially a blog. Oops, I did not mean for this to turn into a nag. I’m fine with your not having a blog! I will support you in whatever you decide!
Really lastly — goodnight.
May 14, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I am liking the shirt! You are brave. I always have to follow a pattern or i mess things up… most of the time anyway!
May 14, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Thanks! I think the shirt might look worse if you could see the back.
I need to take it to my mom’s to model it ad have her tell me if it’s wearable or not. It’s definitely not worse than tees I could buy retail, though.
Oops, did I make it sound like I didn’t have a pattern? I have pattern-drafting software that I was using — but I was having to fudge a lot since I couldn’t quite make it fit on the pattern. I guess I do go pattern-less in the sense of not needing sewing instructions for some kinds of things any more — but I am definitely not a draft-it-yourselfer. (My mom and Mary and Suzy are all pretty good at that kind of thing, though.)