Birds on a Wire Tee
So I’ve been promising (well, promising Steph) pictures of this version for ages. I’m not feeling very photogenic lately (never even mind the camera issues)… and my tripod is missing in action, and I’ve been sick, and… well, motivation hasn’t outweighed laziness, is I guess the basic way to put it.
This is, if you don’t instantly recognize it, a dead knockoff of Steph’s original version of her Blank Canvas Tee pattern, including using her very own Bird on a Wire fabric. Which, I feel I should disclose, she sent me as a gift for agreeing to help test the pattern (and advising on electronic drafting, although I turned out to be absolutely useless for that in the end :P). Since I drew her up a little technical drawing for the shirt, I almost feel like I earned it, although maybe I won’t admit how little time that sketch took…
Anyway, thank you, Steph, for both fabric and pattern! 🙂
This is the same pattern I made up before, except I scooped out the neck a couple of inches more—Steph and I share a love of scoop-necks. The length, you’ll recall, is extended, too… I don’t have a long body, but I wear my pants low, so I need my shirts long to cover them. I gather Steph has since tweaked the pattern to make the shoulders a little smaller, something I may follow suit in. The first version I made fit perfectly in the shoulders, but this version, in a knit with a bit more give, is a little large, and I have broad shoulders to begin with.
It’s a good thing I don’t have any navy blue knits in stash, though, or I’d be in the midst of whipping up yet another version, based on Steph’s first official pattern hack—a cute sweetheart-neckline, empire-waist, sailor-buttoned version.
This is my first time sewing with a Spoonflower knit (this is their organic cotton, if memory serves). It’s a nice weight and feels lovely. It does give quite a bit in stitching—I should’ve stabilized the shoulder seams—and the black print has grayed quite a bit even after only a couple of trips through the wash. That being said, you get your own freakin’ custom print. So, er, it’s probably still worth it. But maybe avoid throwing it in the dryer. Be a better person than I am.
Tanit-Isis Sews 
I hang up almost all of my self-made or “delicate” clothes. It’s not about being a better person, it’s about being a LAZIER person — much faster to wash on cold and hang to dry than to remake it after all!
I LOVE Spoonflower with the passion of a thousand suns but their prices are hard to swallow when I’m accustomed to paying less than a fiver per yard. Why, yes, I am cheap. I do love that shirt and the sailor version, so now I’m thinking I ought to get a pattern of my own….
I try to hang up most of my self-mades. The jeans, absolutely (at least until they get seriously ratched). Knit tops… I’m not quite so diligent about. Although in this case, the first wash & dry was to shrink fabric, which I always do, and the second one was to attempt to tighten the stretched-out seams. So I may, in fact, be good in the future…
I rarely get anything really good for under $5/m up here, but I try not to go beyond the $10/m range unless it’s something really special. So yeah, nearly $30/m is pretty steep. But for what you get… for the right project… worth it, I’d say.
An adorable top, in adorable fabric!
Thank you! 🙂
Spoonflower…how I adore your prints, but abhor your prices. But if it’s a gift, that’s awesome! I sometimes feel bad, too, when people request illustrations and it doesn’t take any time. Cute shirt, though! I’ve been meaning to try that pattern, but don’t have any suitable knits in the stash.
Ah, yes, the suitable knits conundrum… I find I’m much more efficient at sewing through the knit portion of my stash than the woven, too, so I’m always running out…
It looks so cute! 🙂 I like the scoopier neck.
Thanks for your help with… stuff. I really appreciate your help and insight. 🙂
Thank you for the pattern! And the sailor hack, mmmm…
THANK YOU for linking to Steph’s sailor tee. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!
(And my husband thinks it’s sexy, so even better. I’m with you on the “I’ll wear what I damn like but getting complements is nice as well” thing.)
Ooo, have fun!
… those pesky husbands… 😉
Cute top! But then you always look great 🙂 I may have to try her tee block, despite my hatred of taping pages and inkjet printers.
LOL! At least it’s a small pattern…
I really need to get around to making up this shirt. Maybe after I finish my winter coat. And trousers. And dozens of other patterns I’ve promised I’d make. AH FORGET IT, this will probably skip the queue. 😀
Other than the shoulders, it looks like you got a good fit here. Nice job matching the pattern on the side seams!
Queues are made to be re-arranged 😉
Matching the side-seams took a bit of tugging and stretching… which doesn’t make for the best final look… but I tried. 😉
I dreamt I made this last night – no, not in a clairvoyant way, I’d seen your post in my reader just as I was dropping off to sleep & meant to come back (as I am now). However, it must have had an impact! It’s such a great style, I really like its simplicity & good fit.
ANd the sailor tee is pretty cool too
LOL! Can’t wait to see your version… 🙂
Very cute and I’m glad you are feeling better and like getting in to the sewing swing again.
Oh, I missed your earlier version of this for some reason. That’s a great fit and it’s good to see it on a body. I want to try her pattern as well and looking through what I already have to try it out. Is this knit like a t-shirt jersey or is it thicker or more stable than that? I looked at the spoonflower site and it says their cotton knit is interlock, which I don’t think I’ve used before so I’m not sure how it compares.
This one is very much like a T-shirt jersey, maybe a little more stretchy. The first version I made (the striped one) is a very stable, hardly-stretchy-at-all (but rolly :P) knit