George + Ginger The Teen Spirit Top, v.2
2023-Mar-01, Wednesday 02:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chebeOne thing I am trying to learn is how to work with prints. Prints are by far the most widely available kind of fabrics, but I'm very much a solids with occasional graphic kind of person. This will be a journey. To ease myself in I got this all-over dark-grey on medium-grey print of skulls and flowers. It's a knit GOTS Organic Cotton Jersey (95% Cotton, 5% Elastic), 200gsm weight. The wrong side of the fabric is just white, which bugs me, because when stretched a lot it becomes visible on the outside. Good thing I have a nice knit t-shirt pattern that barely asks its fabric to stretch at all, the George + Ginger's The Teen Spirit Top.
Last time I made it up with a fishnet material, and was happy enough. So that's what I tried again. Long-sleeve version, with neckband, and regular straight hem. Size 20/2X. Gütermann thread colour 35. The sleeve pieces are meant to be cut on the fold, but this is a very uneconomical way to use the yardage, so I cut each sleeve in two pieces, and stitched them together with seams lining up with the side seams of the main pieces. Double-folded hems as before, no twin-needling (though it might look nice with some).
And, it's fine? Except, somehow the combination of the solid fabric (as in, not fishnet), with this print, in this style and size, just seems too much. Like, it seems to overwhelm my body? I don't feel particularly at ease in it. And while I was pondering that, I noticed that there are two small holes in the back under the neckband. My guess is that is where they had attached the tag in the shop. (This is a strangely fragile fabric. I feel if I had pulled the pins out at a bad angle it would have ripped holes as well.) I just hadn't noticed when cutting the pattern out. But combined with not really loving the garment, I'm not sure what to do about it. First thought was simply to darn the holes, maybe try some patching. But if the problem is too much print, maybe I could try slashing the top to be distressed instead. Hmmm.
While avoiding making that decision I thought, what if I try the fabric, but in a version of the top with less fabric? I traced out the pattern in a 16/XL, and without sleeves. I didn't, strictly, have enough yardage, so I added a few extra seams to piece enough together. The top pieces (front and back) were cut with straight sides. I cut the short sleeve sections separately, and stitched them to the body pieces, in two, so the seams line up with the side seams again. I also had to cut the back in two, instead of on the fold, and stitch that together. And there wasn't enough length. This is about 8cm / 3 and a quarter inches shorter than the regular straight hem, but still about 6cm / 2 and a half inches longer than the crop hem option. Essentially the same top, just with less fabric.
And, I like it much better. The size is still over-sized, but erring more towards a boxy fit than just plainly too big. And the less fabric (on the arms, at the hem) works better as well. Overall it's more proportioned, and much less overwhelming. Can easily see myself wearing this with a pair of jeans and being done. The long-sleeved one remains a question.
Last time I made it up with a fishnet material, and was happy enough. So that's what I tried again. Long-sleeve version, with neckband, and regular straight hem. Size 20/2X. Gütermann thread colour 35. The sleeve pieces are meant to be cut on the fold, but this is a very uneconomical way to use the yardage, so I cut each sleeve in two pieces, and stitched them together with seams lining up with the side seams of the main pieces. Double-folded hems as before, no twin-needling (though it might look nice with some).
Teen Spirit long-sleeved top in a skull print knit
Photo by chebe
And, it's fine? Except, somehow the combination of the solid fabric (as in, not fishnet), with this print, in this style and size, just seems too much. Like, it seems to overwhelm my body? I don't feel particularly at ease in it. And while I was pondering that, I noticed that there are two small holes in the back under the neckband. My guess is that is where they had attached the tag in the shop. (This is a strangely fragile fabric. I feel if I had pulled the pins out at a bad angle it would have ripped holes as well.) I just hadn't noticed when cutting the pattern out. But combined with not really loving the garment, I'm not sure what to do about it. First thought was simply to darn the holes, maybe try some patching. But if the problem is too much print, maybe I could try slashing the top to be distressed instead. Hmmm.
Close up of the holes in the fabric
Photo by chebe
While avoiding making that decision I thought, what if I try the fabric, but in a version of the top with less fabric? I traced out the pattern in a 16/XL, and without sleeves. I didn't, strictly, have enough yardage, so I added a few extra seams to piece enough together. The top pieces (front and back) were cut with straight sides. I cut the short sleeve sections separately, and stitched them to the body pieces, in two, so the seams line up with the side seams again. I also had to cut the back in two, instead of on the fold, and stitch that together. And there wasn't enough length. This is about 8cm / 3 and a quarter inches shorter than the regular straight hem, but still about 6cm / 2 and a half inches longer than the crop hem option. Essentially the same top, just with less fabric.
Teen Spirit short-sleeved, shorter hem, top in a skull print knit
Photo by chebe
And, I like it much better. The size is still over-sized, but erring more towards a boxy fit than just plainly too big. And the less fabric (on the arms, at the hem) works better as well. Overall it's more proportioned, and much less overwhelming. Can easily see myself wearing this with a pair of jeans and being done. The long-sleeved one remains a question.
Two Teen Spirit tops, in the same fabric, side-by-side
Photo by chebe
