Versatile Tee Pattern - FSG 1960 Part 1: Dress

Most of you probably know that my favorite TNT Tee pattern is Nancy Erickson's FSG #1960.  I've made it numerous times with lots of different style changes from turtleneck to huge cowlneck, deep scoop, collared scoopneck, and so on.  I've done sleeves from long to 3/4 to elbow to sleeveless.  They're all good because I have the base tee pattern just the way I want it, which includes a bust dart and a CB seam to allow for a swayback alteration.  As you can see, this time I did something really different.  A dress.

FSG#1960 

FSG#1960 Flat

The top part is a very thin burnout knit with ribs although I wouldn't really call it ribbed.  There's more textural interest than mechanical stretch from them.  I got this in Chicago I believe, at Vogue Fabrics.  The skirt and sash are a printed knit from JoAnn's.  I was thrilled to find something that went so well with the bright cherry of the burnout, and it has kind of a Monet feel to it, I think.   Since the burnout is so much lighter than the print, I steeled myself for some trouble when I stitched the top/skirt joining seam.  Amazingly enough, it sailed through the machine like butter.  I think my Pfaff IDF helped of course, but I think some of it was just due to good fabric, and maybe luck.

You can see in the photo where the dress is laid flat, that the top part is quite long.  The sash is a double width of fabric, doubled into a wide tube, wrapped around twice and tied.  It covers the join totally.  The dress is wearable without the sash, and may get worn that way when it's really, really hot out. 

I knew I wanted something different for the binding on the neckline and sleeves and that's when I went looking and found the printed knit and decided a skirt would be really nice.  You can see a closeup of the binding (I used my favorite No Fail Binding method) and the twin-needle hem.

FSG#1960 Neck Binding

FSG#1960 Twin-Needle Hem