Sew-A-Long Day 2

Sorry for the late post, my internet has been down all day. The horror!! I was excited to log on and see a couple of photos under the Sew-a-long Flickr group! Check them out, they are super cute!

Ok, so I'm going to answer the questions you guys have left and then I'll share with you today's variation. Can you guess what it is from the photo?

For the questions....
Natalie asked for a post on how to get your stripes lined up. This is actually pretty easy to do and before the week is done I'll do another shirt with stripes and take some additional photos to share with you. Until then, the easiest way to line up stripes (for me anyway) is to first cut out your front piece (or your back piece). Now, when you sew your front and back together you want the stripes to line up. So, now when you lay out your back piece just make sure that the bottom of that piece is on the same stripe that the bottom of your top piece was one when you cut that one. For instance, if you have blue and white stripes and the bottom stripe on your front piece is white, make sure that when cutting the back piece white is also your bottom color. Once cut out the stripes should match perfectly. I'll illustrate with photos- much easier to explain! :)

Tammy asked how much fabric she would need if using knit fabric in place of recycled T's. The only difference you need to make, is that you will need to add about an inch on the bottom of your pattern piece to allow a hem allowance. With the couple of tops I have made so far, I've found this shirt runs long, so you may not even need to add that. Both of the shirts I've made I've removed length. Depending on size you will need about 1/2 to 1 yrd of knit fabric.

Amanda asked for tips on cutting the fabric as her pieces are coming out wonky and jagged. My solution is to use a rotary cutter. That is the only thing I use to cut fabric and rarely ever use scissors. A rotary cutter will give you a nice clean edge. I couldn't live without my rotary cutter! You can find inexpensive ones at your local big box store. If you are cutting a thin knit that wants to move and stretch as you are cutting, it helps to use weights on your fabric. You can buy fabric weights, but random objects you find around the house can work just as well.

Now, on to today's variation..

The Lil Blue Boo Hoodie without the hood! I love hoodies on my kids but there are times when you just don't want the bulk of the hood. We layer a lot in the winter and sometimes hoods on T shirts just get in the way. Leaving the hood off is really easy to do. If you've had a chance to put wrist cuffs on a shirt you've made, it will be a piece of cake.

Go back and read yesterday's post if you missed it and you'll get the scoop on wrist cuffs. Do the same thing with the neckline and you have a hoodless T!

A good rule of thumb is to measure the opening you want to create a binding for (whether it be wrist cuffs or neck on a shirt, or cuffs on pant legs) and take 75% of that measurement.

So, say the measurement around the neck is 17 inches....75% of that is 12.75 inches. You really don't have to be too precise when doing this.
12.75 inches would be the length of your binding. If this was my scenario I would probably just round up to 13 inches.
Now you need to determine how wide you want your neck binding to be. Whatever you choose you will want to double (remember we fold it in half) and add 1/2 inch for seam allowance.
For the binding on my shirt above, I cut my binding 1.75 inches thick. If I could go back I may have cut it a little thicker. It's all personal preference, no right or wrong!

Now, remember, if you have no idea how to attach a wrist cuff go back and read yesterday's post as attaching the neck binding is done in the exact same way. There is just one small change you may want to make.

In the photo above you are looking at the back of my shirt. Before attaching your binding make quarter marks on it and then make quarter marks around the neckline of your shirt. This will make sure that you stretch the binding equally around. I began attaching my binding in the middle of the back of my shirt, so the seam is fairly unnoticeable.

Little Dude was really excited to get this shirt. He has a Spiderman action figure that he is pretty obsessed with, but I have never seen a Spiderman shirt small enought to fit him. He talked to a relative on the phone today. He hadn't spoken to them in months and the first thing he said when I put it up to his ear was "Hi, I got a Spiderman Shirt!". So heartwarming when they love something you make for them!

See the arms on this shirt? Long! I like things with growing room, and those wrist cuffs keep the arms up without having to roll them! Love that.

Keep the questions coming! Add your photos the the Sew-a-long Flickr Group! I don't know what the prize is yet, but there is going to be a small prize for the shirt I like best that is uploaded to the group! :)

Tomorrow I'm going to shoot for a girly variation...