Transplanting a polo shirt collar onto a regular t-shirt

Ribbing for knit shirt necklines and sleeves as always bugged me a bit. Most of my knits are recycled from old and thrifted t-shirts, but it's difficult to reclaimed the ribbed necks. Mostly because they are too small after you cut it off the shirt and too worn and sun damaged. Buying new ribbing is usually difficult as my local fabric stores usually stock only 100% polyester scratchy stuff my children hate. I guess many people do not make t-shirts any more (I know, you can get two for $5 at Old Navy or Walmart - we can talk about this later :) Typically I try to use a thicker knit t-shirt with quite a bit of stretch, but it's not as great. I can't imagine why I never though of it before, but looking at a polo shirt the other day as it lay on my chopping block I thought, 'well, that will work.'

Polo shirt collars are much stiffer than you generally want ribbing to be and too thick to sew in folded, at least on a small child's shirt. Generally they are finished on three sides. I decided that all this wasn't a disadvantage at all if I altered slightly how the polo collar turned ribbing was sewn onto the shirt.


With the finished edge coming down around the neck, it changes the look of a basic t-shirt a bit. I kind of like it. It's certainly worth not having to fool around with trying to find non-scratchy ribbing to suit the kids.

Here is what I did:

The polo shirt,


Chop, chop!


The recipient shirt was all ready and the neckline divided into fourths, just like I usually do when sewing in ribbing.


The polo collar was cut to the appropriate length and evened out in width (polo shirt collars are not cut into perfect rectangles). When cutting the collar, I took into account the amount of stretch in the collar as well as how wide I wanted the collar to be. A wider collar gives more of a turtle neck look. I was very careful to maintain the finished edge of the collar (the bit in white).

The collar was sewn into a loop and divided into fourths.


With the right side of the collar to the wrong side of the shirt, the raw edge of the collar was sewn to the shirt.


Which looked like this when it was turned up:


To finish, I folded down the edge of the collar to the outside of the shirt,


and stitched it down, with the stitches running just below the seam (I actually turned up the seam allowance on the neck seam before I stitched past so I could get as close to the actual seam as possible).


Done!



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tees, reconstructed

I've made a start through my pile of knits to reconstruct into tees for the kids.


Winter here on Vancouver Island may not be particularly cold, at least not according to Alberta snow standards, but it is grey. ("The sky is grey, the sand is grey, and the ocean is grey..." :) I find myself grateful for the colour where I can find it. I'm even beginning to warm to the duck boots.


So far I've made one raglan shirt for each child. I'm particularly proud of Birdie's. Not only did the stripes in the applique come together with the shirt stripes in a particularly serendipitous manner, but I managed to reuse the ribbed collar from a men's golf shirt. If anyone's interested, I can do up a little tute on that.


Smootch's shirt, well, we all blow it every once in awhile. I think I actually cut the front and back of the shirt too big on top, either by having the pattern piece shift on me or maybe I traced the pattern wrong, but something needs adjusted before I have another go.

If the girl child would actually hold still, you'd be able to see the goof clearly.


But since she will not (maybe can not?) stay still, she gets to wear the shirt despite it's issues. She loves the heart and the arms and, as she says, the 'racing stripes'.


And that is why I love sewing for my kids more than myself - they are much nicer to me than I will ever be. Bless them for that.

Sewing with knits

I am all set to sew up some new t-shirts and hoodies for the kids this spring. Stripes are the theme for the year. Well, stripes are the theme for every year, really. I really like stripes :) Which helps since all of my fabric is recycled knits from a thrift store, and most of the unloved garments hanging forlornly, since nobody really needs another striped shirt in the closet. Well, except me and my kids, of course.

Getting set to sew, I remembered some recent comments from readers about being unable to sew knits. There seems to be an idea that knits are difficult to sew. Let me tell you, knits are not hard. Knits are easy! Knits are fun and forgiving and fast!

Okay, but sewing knits is not the same as sewing something woven. First up, a ball point needle in the smallest size you can get away with is essential. Sharp tip needles are great for woven (non-stretch) fabric but they will just rip holes in your knits. Very bad to have your garment rip along the seams after the first wash.

Second, the usual problem with knits is the stretched out seams, easily taken care of by using a slightly longer stitch and steaming your seam. To steam, hover your iron over top the seam, with the steam going full blast, and the seam will shrink back into place (with knits, always press straight down with the iron, do not rub it side to side). It also helps to use quality thread and to not overly stretch your seam while sewing.

That being said, a gentle stretch while stitching is helpful to prevent bunching up of the knit. The two layers go through the sewing machine, past the feed dogs, at different rates of speed. Usually the feed dogs will carry the bottom layer through just fine, so a slight pull will keep the top inline.

Using a serger is in no way necessary for knits. Actually, I hardly ever use my serger with knits, because there is no need to finish the edges - knits do not fray - and the sewing machine usually creates more stable seams. I do know that many people like to use the serger for knits and the main reason for that is the differential feed, turned up just a bit, prevents seam stretching as well as feed the fabrics through evenly. For difficult spots like setting in sleeves, a serger can be a god-send. But the difference between the regular machine vs. a serger for knits is like the difference between driving an automatic vs. a standard transmission on an icy road. The level of control the driver has makes helps prevent slipping, but generally both types will make it through just fine if they go slow.

One last point about cutting knits: a rotary cutter is your best friend. Use your rotary if you have one. Many problems with knit garments start with wonky cuts. Just digging those scissors underneath and lifting the fabric up to cut causes misalignment. Still, if you do use scissors, keep them sharp.

If you are going to try knits for the first time or try again after a bad experience, I suggest heading down to your local thrift store or raiding your closet for some sturdy, slightly thick, t-shirts. It helps to learn with the firmer stuff and not the slinky, slippery Lycras (which are headaches, no matter how competent you are at sewing knits). Start with a raglan style t-shirt pattern, a ball point needle, and some extra time. Or, if you like, try out this tutorial for using your old tee shirts.

Hope this encourages somebody to give knits a go. Sewing is all about confidence. Natural talent is great, but better than that is the willingness to try new and scary things. In the end, the more mistakes you make the better; redoing the bungle ups is when true skill and knowledge is earned.

perspective

This past weekend we stayed at a hotel. Our Master Plan when away with the kids, to compensate for their irregular schedules (schedules are the secret of sanity when living with very young people) is to stay at a hotel with a heated pool, where we can basically exhaust the children to the point where they simply fall asleep as soon as they get in front of the tv. No, not imaginative, but effective.

The pool plan requires us to basically close the pool down. We're always the last ones to leave, usually being shooed out by staff. This last stay, on Friday night, we had our front desk lady in the pool two minutes before the official close time, clucking at and whooshing us towards the door like we were a bunch of unruly chickens. This time, however, we were about ready to leave, with only Birdie having to put on his super classy orange boots.

Here's the thing: Birdie is 22 months old and the most unreasonable person I've ever met. Even for a toddler, he's immensely independent, selfish, proud, and irrational. In other words, he will do it himself, whatever 'it' may be, or the WORLD WILL END. My job, as his attendant and PA, is to supply sweets and stare patiently at the wall while he takes 20 minutes to open a door, pour a drink of water, or count his fingers.

So, there we are at pool closing time (or two minutes to closing time) with the clucking desk clerk all rushing and flustered trying to get back to her post at the front, and Birdie, perched like a crane holding onto the wall, with his little toes hovering over the top of his boots, making slow little dips into the boots, resulting in either a knocked over boot or having the whole thing twisted off to one side like he's been in a terrible industrial accident. It's funny as hell if you've already accepted your lot as the wall starer. If you are a rushed lady, imagining an irate guest unable to reach anyone at the front desk when he needs an extra pillow or the movie channel turned on, it's the most annoying thing in the world.

Perspective.

My little smile and apology saying something like us being on 'toddler time' was met with an icy, 'well, I'm not,' and a glare directed at my boy that might have stunted his growth if he'd been paying attention.

One of my favorite posts here of all time is the Crayon Liberation, which has, I think, struck a cord with a few of you too, as I still frequently get messages about it, both on the post and in my personal email. I still remind myself every day, or every hour depending on the day, that there is more to every situation than maintaining order and following rules. Being late, being messy, being silly - it's not so bad if I can keep perspective.

But I'm not a jerk. I did grab the little dictator, popped his boot on, and got us out of the pool area pronto. That, I believe, is another important factor to keep in mind: balance.


Now I'm going to rush about town doing chores and errands, with a toddler in tow, and a preschooler to pick up and drop off, and I'm going to chant those two words, perspective and balance, and try not to get frustrated with it all. It's mental training for the creative times, and a good way to live, I think.

Read any great books?

I can't do up a big idea today because I'm packing up to get out of here for a couple days. We're off to the big city (well, bigger than here anyway) to eat at vegan restaurants (a treat, let me tell you), watch and practice some roller derby (don't ask), catch up with an old friend (I think she's actually 3 months younger than me), get a tattoo (vegan ink! stars, I'll show you when it's done), go to the museum (super excited, I've never been to this one) and stay at a hotel with a heated indoor pool (Smootch's idea of heaven).

So, I've got to, you know, go.

But before I do, can I ask a question?

A few days ago a reader emailed to ask what book or books have been especially helpful when learning to sew, and did I have any recommendations. As it happens, I was pretty unhelpful. For a bibliophile such as myself, I do very little sewing reading. Mostly I stand at the library and flip through the old Vogue and Simplicity sewing guides, pick up a skewed version of a technique or two, and go work out how to do it at home.

Maybe you guys can help out? What sewing book has been most helpful and/or inspirational in your sewing journey? Bonus points to anyone who can remember both the title and the author :)

collared onesie to raglan recon

Birdie is at the age where he is growing longer much faster than wider. His onesies still fit his shoulders and chest quite well, providing I don't do up the snap; he looks like a circus strong man if I do.


To prolong onsie life, the simplest thing to do is to cut off the bottom and hem. Viola, tee shirt.

I decided to take an extra step with this particular onesie and add long sleeves. With the wind whipping across the water and the more or less continuous rain, there's not much use for short sleeves right now. To make life a bit easier, I decided to use a raglan tee pattern (from Ottobre 6/2009) and some fabric from a previously ravaged polo shirt.


I had everything all set up to go and then did a double take of my onesie. I'd completely forgotten that there was an entire collar on it that would have to be dealt with somehow if I was to do a raglan shirt. This collar, taking it apart and refinishing the edges, could put an extra hour on my quick 20 minute project. No good. So, I went off to make a cup of tea (it's what I do when I need to think) and decided that I would just pretend like I meant for that collar to be there all along.

Here is what I did:

The bottom of the onesie was cut off as usual (later I would raise the bottom hem slightly to take off the little nookie thing under the snaps) and the sides cut up the seam. The onesie was then flipped open, separating the front and back in order to cut the raglan pattern from each.

The top edge of the front pattern was placed directly against the collar. I cut almost up to the top, but turned out and around the collar, leaving a seam allowance just wide enough for me to stitch the sleeves to, without getting my needle caught in the seam allowance of the collar (it would be just too much stuff for my needle to get through.)


The back was cut in the same fashion. You can see how wonky the cut is on the original onesie by the stripes in the back. Never feel bad about your sewing mistakes because ready to wear is usually doubly bad, and they would never dream of apologizing.


Here was the fun bit. Sewing the sleeve to the front, back and collar all at once was a bit tricky. I lost some definition in the sharp edge of the top back corner of the sleeve piece, giving the shoulders a rounder look. The whole thing is actually hidden under the collar, though, so when the boy wears the shirt, no one is the wiser (these things always work out to the best when I pretend that I meant it to be that way in the first place).


The shoulder part of the raglan sleeve was slightly wider than the collar space, but seeing at this is knit, I just let my feed dogs pull in the wider sleeve while I stretched out the collar space and it fit in perfectly.

I believe that leaving the collar on actually saved me a bit of time, not having to put in a separate ribbed collar. It just gets better!


From there it was stitch up the side seams and the bottom hem. I cut the sleeves with the bottom edge against the tee's hem, so they were already finished. I did, however, put in a couple of stitches at the sleeve's hem to pin back the seam allowance, giving it a smoother finish than if I just let the seam allowance dangle out the end against Birdie's wrist.


In general, I was feeling fairly happy about the whole recon, until I finished steaming the last seam and realized I really didn't like the original onesie to begin with, and I'm fairly certain adding stripey sleeves just added to the clownly-ness of it all. I thought, 'I can't make my son wear this!'

But I did anyway, just to see how it fit. Birdie threw on his orange boots

(omg, the orange boots! Our neighbors gave them to us because they didn't fit their little boy. Ha! More like they didn't want them to fit their kid. I couldn't think fast enough to come up with a reasonable excuse not to accept them. My feeble, 'But they're two sizes too big,' was quickly poo-poo'd - 'He'll grow, of course! - and I was forced to take them home with us. Birdie has been wearing them, inside and out, since then. He loves them. He loves them more than his blue boots and that has been a rather intense relationship. Not only can put them on himself (remember, two sizes too big) but whenever he steps out, all the passerbys like to stop to tell him how cute he is and make quacking sounds at him. Birdie, of course, adores ducks. Plus, who wouldn't enjoy quacking strangers? I can't help but feel this will one day haunt him.)

and we went outside for a test run.


Maybe it's how dark and grey it is outside, but with the colours slightly muted in the light but still contrasting strongly against the dark, murky waters of our flooded yard, I started to like the shirt a little bit. That small bit of like is enough for now.


If the sun doesn't come out soon, I may even begin to like the boots too.

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This is a free tutorial and I encourage you to use the information in any way you need to (check the disclaimer at the bottom of the page). If it works for you, please consider supporting my etsy shop by purchasing a Little Print Design pattern or toss a dollar or two in my paypal to show appreciation and to encourage me to offer up even more quality patterns and tutorials.

Thank you!
Questions about the Donation? FAQ here.

vinyl water-resistant book bag

I made this little water resistant bag to carry Smootch's library books way back in December, when, after two months of rain, it was beginning to look like it might not actually let up for the whole winter. Guess what? It's still raining! I feel smug with my most uncharacteristic preparation for the elements. Smug, but wet.


(Hey, look, the pic from the banner! Can you tell I've had this tutorial planned for awhile now?)

The bag is of the simplest construction, to minimize the number of potential water-leaking seams, made from a repurposed vinyl packaging, double-fold bias tape, fabric and an Eric Carle inspired applique to keep with the whole wet theme. The fish actually sits behind a vinyl panel, so it looks nicely shiny and water-esque.

The original vinyl packaging came to us wrapped around a dress up surgeon's outfit.


There are three plastic snaps securing the flap to the bag, very handy. The vinyl bag also has a big hole the bottom where a hanger to hold the dress-up outfit on the shelf, otherwise I might have been able to use this for storage. Though, in truth, I've got all the storage I need, and still more vinyl packaging.

If you do not have the exact same type of packaging as I did, you can cut out the pieces from any vinyl packaging and add snaps or velcro of your own to keep the bag secure.

The bag is constructed from two pieces of vinyl, with corresponding fabric pieces. I began by securing my flap into bag-ready position and used a sharpie to outline my bag. For sizing, I grabbed one of Smootch's larger picture books then added an inch of all sides.


Essentially I ended up with two rectangles:
back piece: 11" wide by 15" long
front piece: 11" wide by 11.5" long

Then two rectangles of fabric of the same dimensions were cut. Keep in mind that the back fabric will be seen in the front as it comes down with the flap when choosing your fabrics.


The strap is a fabric strip 24" by 2.75". Prep the strap by stitching the long edges together, right sides together to form a tube. Turn the tub right side out and press flat.

The next step is to embellish the fabric front piece. To keep the snaps functional, the front fabric lies behind the vinyl panel while the back fabric is on top of the vinyl panel. I chose a fish applique to create a oceanic illusion, with the fish swimming inside of the bag. The Eric Carle theme came about because an Eric Carle book just happened to be right in front of me when I was thinking about it. Plus, Eric Carle's work lends itself brilliantly to applique work, being all textured and patterned mosaics. I loved making this applique and want to mine children's books for more inspirations.


With the applique done, the actual bag construction goes more or less easily, depending on your comfort level with bias tape. If you hate bias tape, this is your project! I can't imagine an easier way to gaining some mastery over the bias tape than this straight seamed, oh so friendly to sew, grippy vinyl bag.

First, before the bias tape comes out, machine baste the fabric panels to the vinyl (try using paper clips to 'pin' the fabric to the vinyl):

Stitch the right side to the vinyl on the front (so that the applique shows through the vinyl). (Also clean out any little fluffs or strings before you start, otherwise you'll be looking at them forever and if you're like me, it will drive you nuts.)

Stitch the wrong side of the back fabric to the back vinyl piece.


Bring out the strap and stitch it to the fabric side of the back piece, right where your panel will bend (11.5" from the bottom edge).


Now, time for the bias tape! When I use bias tape, I usually sew it on with two seams. First I open up the tape, and machine baste the raw edge to the fabric, right sides together. Then the tape is folded up and top stitched into position.

The top edges of both panels are the first to be covered. Cut two pieces of double fold bias tape each 11" long. Stitch to the tops of the panels.


The next step is to align the bottom edges of the front and back panels (fabric front side to vinyl back side) and cover the bottom edge with 11" worth of bias tape.


The very last step is to cover the side edges. Cut two 16" long pieces of bias tape. The extra length is for tucking the ends of the tape in inside to neatly finish the top and bottom edges.


And you're done! One easy little book bag that laughs in the face of rain and snow.



*********************************

This is a free tutorial and I encourage you to use the information in any way you need to (check the disclaimer at the bottom of the page). If it works for you, please consider supporting my etsy shop by purchasing a Little Print Design pattern or toss a dollar or two in my paypal to show appreciation and to encourage me to offer up even more quality patterns and tutorials.

Thank you!
Questions about the Donation? FAQ here.