Seamwork Elli henley top
2023-Dec-18, Monday 12:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chebeSeamwork's Elli is a long-sleeved t-shirt with a henley bust planket. This has been on my to-do list for a long time, but finding rib-knit fabric is surprisingly difficult.
A bit spooked by how small previous Seamwork t-shirts came out I went with a straight size 18 (this pattern is from the old range, so no misses vs curvy to differentiate).
I made it up in this black fine ribbed jersey, 100% cotton, 220gsm. I was good and pre-washed. This is the strangest fabric. It's light as air, but dense as all hell when sewing through layers.
The bust planket is a disaster. I went with buttons instead of snaps, and that was a mistake. The button-holer could not handle all the folds and layers of fabric going on. It would twist and stretch the fabric, and I had to attempt the top buttonhole six times before I went inside out and upside down, to get a barely usable result. (I even tried the stabiliser plate, but that just meant it wouldn't fit under the needle.) And then when it came to over-lapping the sides, the fabric squirmed and would not cooperate. It's not gaping, which is the best I can say. Maybe, just maybe, I should have used interfacing.
The neckline is just top-stitched with a single needle, but the cuffs and hem are twin-needled. I tried something new. I used the walking foot, with the 4.0mm twin needle. This needle is too wide for any of my regular sewing feet, but turns out the walking foot is wide enough to accommodate it. The fabric between the lines of stitching kind of bubbled (especially on the sleeves where I was stretching it around the machine arm), but I'm hoping it will settle when I iron it.
Fit-wise, it's too big. This fabric really relaxed (the scooped neckline is generous, even with staystitching), but I still think it's too big. Next time I'd go down a couple sizes, and add an inch or two to the sleeve length. (I'll also probably leave out the planket, and just make a long-sleeve top too, tbh. At least until I'm happy with the sizing.)
A bit spooked by how small previous Seamwork t-shirts came out I went with a straight size 18 (this pattern is from the old range, so no misses vs curvy to differentiate).
I made it up in this black fine ribbed jersey, 100% cotton, 220gsm. I was good and pre-washed. This is the strangest fabric. It's light as air, but dense as all hell when sewing through layers.
The bust planket is a disaster. I went with buttons instead of snaps, and that was a mistake. The button-holer could not handle all the folds and layers of fabric going on. It would twist and stretch the fabric, and I had to attempt the top buttonhole six times before I went inside out and upside down, to get a barely usable result. (I even tried the stabiliser plate, but that just meant it wouldn't fit under the needle.) And then when it came to over-lapping the sides, the fabric squirmed and would not cooperate. It's not gaping, which is the best I can say. Maybe, just maybe, I should have used interfacing.
The neckline is just top-stitched with a single needle, but the cuffs and hem are twin-needled. I tried something new. I used the walking foot, with the 4.0mm twin needle. This needle is too wide for any of my regular sewing feet, but turns out the walking foot is wide enough to accommodate it. The fabric between the lines of stitching kind of bubbled (especially on the sleeves where I was stretching it around the machine arm), but I'm hoping it will settle when I iron it.
Fit-wise, it's too big. This fabric really relaxed (the scooped neckline is generous, even with staystitching), but I still think it's too big. Next time I'd go down a couple sizes, and add an inch or two to the sleeve length. (I'll also probably leave out the planket, and just make a long-sleeve top too, tbh. At least until I'm happy with the sizing.)
Seamwork Elli in black rib knit, finished, front view
Photo by chebe
