A few years ago, I bought a t-shirt pattern (New Look 6405) with the idea that I could use it to upcycle some of the too-large shirts I have to refashion, but somehow, I never quite had the combination of confidence and willingness to put in the time to try it (working with a pattern is more time-consuming than my super-easy trace-and-sew method). Now that I have more experience working with knits, I decided to test-drive the pattern on a shirt I cared very little about - a free, cream-and-black XL volunteer t-shirt from Expo.
I diverged from the pattern immediately by lengthening the shirt and making use of the already-existent t-shirt hem. I used part of the remainder of that hard-working black knit jacket to make the contrasting bands. The pattern was not hard to follow except for one step that did the instructions did not make sense to me (attaching the two front pieces). However, I am so used to having to figure out how to put stuff together without a pattern that it was easy for me to simply determine what the step needed to accomplish and then do it. This was totally successful.
Overall, I was pleased with the result.
Next time, I might lengthen the shirt differently, though. This time, I just added to the bottom of the shirt, but really, I probably could stand to add length at both the bottom and the torso, since the narrowest point of the shirt hits me a bit higher than my body's thinnest spot. But this is a minor issue. The fit is very good if not perfect. I used the US Standard Size 16 pattern and found no need to adjust any of the other dimensions since I didn't want the shirt as tight as it might have been. I prefer the shirts to be fitted, but not tight, if you get what I mean.
I learned a couple of things from using this pattern:
(1) As you might expect, the front and back pieces were not exactly the same. The back was a bit smaller and was eased to fit (stretched a small amount) when sewing it to the front. This makes sense given that the front is where all the action is, volume-wise.
(2) The bands were also a bit smaller than the openings and eased to fit when attaching. I would definitely have simply cut the bands to be the very same size. I think their method probably does do a better job of keeping the bands taut.
(3) Top-stitching (the row of stitches added to the cream fabric just below where it attaches to the black bands) does look good.
In the back, to make use of the existing hem, I sacrificed some of the t-shirt logo, but I actually sort of like it. Perhaps there's something goofy feeling about making too professional-looking a shirt out of a stupid event t-shirt and this sort of slapdash, homemade element feels funkier. Or maybe I'm just making the best of the situation, I don't know.
I would love to make a long-sleeved version of the shirt, but don't have anything like the necessary fabric. Even with more t-shirts, I may have to settle for a Frankenshirt (that's my term for an item made from bits of many other items) unless I find a source of cheap knit fabric. But all in good time. I still have other shirts to use or lose this month and I cannot justify buying anything new (fabric or patterns) until I get through this (increasingly smaller) stash.
But when I am in the market for stuff, I look forward to spending time on some of the pattern review sites, which I've never done before. I really liked seeing what other people did with this pattern, and the variation in body shapes would give me a better feel for what the final product might look like. The skinny-minnies on the pattern cover (photographed or drawn) are certainly not very representative of my body shape.
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