The best way to start is with a photo of a shirt I made!
Currently I’m taking DS 154 which is a continuation of the class I took last year. One of the first assignments (if you couldn’t guess already) was to make a plaid t-shirt. The objectives of this assignment were to learn how to match plaid (relative to all nap fabrics), attach a two piece collar, use bias, and apply pockets, button holes, and buttons.
I already had experience with attaching a two piece collar, working with bias, and applying a buttons because of the jacket and Skirt we made in the previous class. So for me, the big take away message from this assignment was matching.
We did not draft the pattern ourselves, so I feel it necessary to give credit to the pattern: Simplicity 7030. I did alter the pattern a little bit with respect to the front placket. In the pattern, the edge of the side front pieces are rolled under to become the placket. This would have made the place where the buttons go a continuation of the sides (horizontal lines). That would have been okay, but I wanted to add more visual interest. So (as you can see from the plethora of pictures) I cut the pattern to have the placket be on bias (diagonal lines).
I know for sure that I’m going to make many more of these shirts over the summer. The techniques are great for practice, and I don’t look bad when I wear the shirt! With that said, the one thing I’m changing is the hem line; it’s way too long!
Interesting story:
My shopping experience for this project was not positive. I wanted to save money, but all of the good [aesthetically pleasing] fabrics were $5-$13/yd. Normally, that’s a good price range, but I didn’t want to spend over $20 on a t-shirt; most of my own t-shirts are less than $10! So I was literally searching the store for a good 2 hours before I just gave up and chose the fabric you see above. Alone, the fabric was the grossest thing in the world. It was a salmon-orange color with black and red lines. Halloween anyone? I wanted to puke. The only thing that made me slightly happy was the fact that the fabric was $3.25/yd and the buttons were really cool (they looked like jewels). Interestingly, everyone in the class (and some of my other friends) were like, “Ooo, Burberry, Burberry!” And I was like, “Burberry, who? You can have this junk.” (Side note: don’t worry, I’ve done my research, I know who/what Burberry is). HOWEVER, by the end of the shirt I was super proud! The shirt looks really great and I can wear it outside without blinding people. The fabric actually looks good! So lesson number two: a well made garment can make gross fabric look awesome.
(And as a bonus I got a 97%).
The person in the above picture is AWESOME!!!!! Her name is Hana, and she took the pictures of me. I did not make her shirt.