Versatile Tee Pattern - FSG 1960 Part 2: Tee

As I said in Part 1, most of you probably know by this time that my very favorite TNT Tee pattern is Nancy Erickson's FSG #1960.   I change it around quite a bit, but the 'bones' remain the same.  This version is called Tropical Palms.

FSG#1960 Tropical Palms

 This fabric came home with me from Santa Fe Fabrics in April.  It's only July, so almost immediate gratification!  I loved this print, which is a horizontal stripe, not usually my choice, but with the changing colors and the palm tree print behind the stripes, it has enough interest that the stripes recede in importance a bit.  That's my story, anyway.

FSG#1960 Tropical Palms Back

I bought ONE yard only, and it was plenty, but only just.  The sleeves are this length because that's how much fabric I had.  I ended up cutting them lengthwise (which I think looks cuter than they would have the usual horizontal way, since the stripes continue over the shoulder seam) between the front and back pieces.  I needed the remaining length to cut the neckline binding.  It's a crosswise strip cut carefully following the stripes, and I think it turned out really cute.  Of course I used the No Fail Binding Method.

FSG#1960 Striped Neckline Binding

You can see how following the stripe made for a cute binding on this striped fabric since the neckline has a curve.  There was nowhere near enough fabric to do a bias cut, and I think the effect might have been lost in all the stripes, curve, palm trees, etc.  This worked out just very well.  And yes, I know my 'in the ditch' stitching wandered slightly for a while.  It happens.  But this is a quick summer top and it's fine.

The hems on the sleeves and lower edge are stitched with a straight stitch, fairly short.  I stretched the fabric quite a bit but not excessively and steamed it back into shape.  It doesn't show any signs of popping, and I think there's enough thread in the stitching that it should be all right.

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

Another "Design Opportunity". FSG#1960 Plaid

I love design opportunities, but not as much when they appear because I have made a mistake that needs to be rectified. You get a hint of the solution on the right.  The third photo will show you the problem that I fixed.  All of the photos are also at my photo site.

    

I naturally planned to match the plaid on this top.  I didn't think much about it, and since the most plaid I've matched were all the shirts I made for Pearle, I just used my fall-back plaid matching method, and matched the lower armscye points.  It always worked beautifully on his shirts, but as you can see in the following photo, there was a little problem when I got to the dart.  Duh.  So, now I had a design opportunity camouflaged as a mis-matched side seam.  Although something like the seam shown below would be unremarkable in a lot of RTW, it is almost unthinkable in what I make for myself. 

  
 

I think my solution is rather fun, and it was fairly simple, although the spongy knit made it tricky to do a horizontal tuck very easily.  Not like pressing a beautiful tuck in say, linen.  But with a little hand basting, it all worked out, and the side seams are fine, and the back is FUN, if I do say so myself.

An Outfit for 'The' Shoes

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This is the vest/sleeveless jacket I made to wear with the wonderful Fergie shoes. It's the FSG #1960 Cardigan pattern, without the sleeves, and with the shawl collar modification in Nancy Erickson's newsletter. I think it is much more a sleeveless jacket look than a vest, and that's what I'm calling it. The color is probably truest in the first photo.
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It's a nice, beefy knit with surface interest from the black raised threads. Since it was so beefy and almost thick, and because I used no interfacing in it, it has a very soft look and feel.
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You can see that I stitched down the edges of the uppermost seam allowance after grading the allowances that lie beneath. The collar/band unit was sewn on as one, with the allowances all laying the same way, so this made a nice finish which allowed everything to fall as it should.

As noted above, I used the shawl collar pattern piece provided in the Nancy Erickson newsletter, and I think it's fine. I think I might make a less pronounced curve out to the collar from the band if I make another like this. I can't decide if it would make it too bulky where it closes, or if it would be better, but I can always try it and then change back if I don't like it.
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I had thought I'd do patch pockets on this, but I was afraid it would make the front so much heavier than the back that it would hang funny, especially if I actually put anything in the pockets. So, I left them off, and for the look of it, I'm glad I did. I like pockets though, and I wonder if in-seam pockets might work next time. I really don't need the bulk though, so we'll see. I know I could have used weight in the back hem to make it hang straight, but this isn't a structured enough or 'important' enough piece to do that, in my opinion.

The top with this is from a set I made from this same pattern (there's a charcoal cardigan jacket as well) and the skirt is part of it as well, although not from the FSG pattern. I shortened the skirt from calf-length. I think it looks good, and I love a simple 4-seam straight skirt in a knit fabric. It's so much more slimming than without the CF and CB seams. It's an elastic waist, and honestly, you don't need a pattern to make one like it.

It's really, really cold here lately, and we have a bunch of snow on the ground, but at least more isn't coming down right now. I hope the bad storms and big problems are missing all of you, too.