Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Knock Off Sewing - Stripes

     I hope you all had a marvelous Labor Day weekend. I had a bit of extra time to do a bit of this and that while the mister watched the little people. I wandered around town a bit one day, and came home with about a dozen new ideas of things I want to try making. I have a slightly strange habit of handling clothing to see how its made, rather than to actually buy it. Weird I know. It does me good though, because I learn a lot about the construction of different garments by doing this. For instance, I love stripes....so when I saw this shirt, I immediately stopped to examine it. The stripes were just too interesting to pass up.

    After my examination, I decided I could totally make that...even though $15 wouldn't exactly break the bank just to buy it. Knock offs don't have to be from something expensive do they? Here is my version.


     I really do love it. Mine cost me about $5 and was ridiculously easy to make. Here is the jist of it. Measure across just the front of you, this will be how wide your horizontal stripes should be. Measure how long you want it and cut out this section.


     Cut out two sections of vertical stripes to make up the rest of the needed width.



     Sew the sections together. It makes a large square.


     Measure 8inches down the side and leave this section open for the arm hole. Sew down the side.


     Leave about a 10inch opening in the top and sew across the top.


    Cut a dip in the back and a deeper one in the front.

     I hemmed down the edges around the neck.



      To create a more finished, ragged look, I folded the hem back to the right side and sewed down.







     I sewed a band around the bottom, and cut it so the stripes were going diagonally.


     All done. Basically, this is just a collection of rectangular pieces of fabric sewn together with a neck hole...couldn't be easier.



     And, while we are on the subject of stripes, here is one other tip. You can create any pattern with stripes you want, based on how you sew the fabric together. This is just a basic shirt, but looks so much classier than just a regular t-shirt, because of how the fabric is sewn together.

     I made my own version with three quarter length sleeves using a stretchy knit that had sheer stripes in it. (Just for the record, this fabric was the epitome of annoying to try to sew!)

     All you need to do to make this look is cut out your shirt with your fabric on a diagonal.


     Open it up and you will have four pieces of a shirt. Sew down the centers of the front and back to make the "V".


     Use the arm hole to measure and cut out your sleeves.



   
     Sew the sleeves on and then sew down the sides. I added a cuff with the stripes going the opposite way of the stripes on the sleeve.


     I put a binding around the neck and hemmed the bottom. So, I have a basic shirt that doesn't look too basic, simply because I have stripes adding interest.


     I hope this made some sort of sense...I'm not thinking super clearly due to a permanent headache from lack of sleep and excessive amounts of strong coffee. Happy stripey sewing!


"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." I John 2:15 

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6 comments:

  1. These both look AMAZING! I thought it was pretty clear, no worries :)

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  2. I love, love, love stripes and think both of your tops are lovely. I actually think they turned out better than the inspiration! Thanks for sharing. :)

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  3. Love the idea. I've been saving this really great knit just waiting for a simple pattern. I'm going to try it, you make it look so easy. Love the neck finish!

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  4. you are so smart! I love them

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