Knock Off T-shirts

I was cleaning out the garage and found some of my old school projects. I think this is from 2007 but I'm not too sure. I thought it would be fun to post to see my progress since then. This was done for my intermediate sewing class. We had to knock off a t-shirt and then alter the pattern. I really hated this project and didn't really see the point but I had no say in the matter.

Here is the first shirt.


Here is the second shirt. I lengthened the sleeves and torso, then added a hood and front pocket.



Comparing these shirts to my current projects, I can really see my sewing progression. I'm not sure what to do with them now. Maybe I should stash them in the garage again to find in another few years to reminisce like this again.

African Prints

Sailor Venus was in Togo and brought back this shirt. It's not flattering or stylish, but she loves the bold colors and fun print. I have on in blue/green. I look like . . . . I'll show you if you see me but it's not flattering.

She asked me what I could to make it less of potato sack on her body. At first I was going to add some darts or maybe pleating to make it flattering on her body. But the more I played with the shirt, the more I realized that a few darts would not really make a difference. I spent random moments just staring at this shirt trying to find its true potential. And in a fit of inspiration I decided to hack it up to make a cute top.




Can you puzzle the pieces of this shirt back to it's original form?

Soft Tailored Jacket

For my Advanced Sewing class we had to sew a soft tailored women's jacket. Soft tailoring is using interfacing and steaming to shape the jacket as opposed to using stitches to shape a suit/jacket. That's a super abridged explanation.

Here's the finished project.





The jacket is made out of wool. I lined it with a blue bemberg rayon. I wish this jacket pattern had inner pockets. I really love secret pockets.


My first time doing welt pockets. It was a pain but I'm hoping with practice I'll get it down.


I was so frustrated with this bound button hole. I did three samples and they all turned out beautifully. But the one I put on the jacket was a disaster. It started to unravel and come apart.


I'm pretty satisfied on how my first jacket turned out. I'm hoping to get to men's wear in the not so distant future.

Spirograph Belt

A few months ago I had found a belt in the trash. Of course I took it home. I tried several different looks but this the one I finally settled on.


I'm really happy with the outcome.