It Was All My Fault

After all.

I tried to make a shirt from the Alabama Chanin book but it didn't fit - too small.  I also couldn't get my head through the hole and decided it could be their fault.  But it wasn't.  It was me.  Deep down inside I knew it all along.

  I didn't read the directions closely (shocking, I know) and thought that the t-shirt back of the pattern should be cut twice and used for the front and back.  No.  There is a separate pattern piece for the front.  

Ever so sorry. 

Luckily, I am stubborn.  I went to the thrift shop and bought a mighty pile of gigantic tee-shirts.

Here's the sleeve pattern.  It fit the original sleeve right at the short sleeve length.  Perfect.  

When you buy a sewing book with patterns, you don't want to cut the patterns directly our of the book.  I was stymied by this at first but some smart people on the interwebs set me straight.  You copy the pattern onto wax paper.  So smart.

I may be XL but luckily this tee shirt is a men's XXL.  Plenty of fabric to play with.

Wax paper patterns are so easy to modify. I just taped an extra little slip of paper right onto the pattern.  But this one was still a bit snug.  So, I don't have a finished product to show yet.  I'm going to add a tiny bit more and try again. 

What's that you say?  The baby quilt?  Hmm.  Oh yeah.  I put in one line of stitching but I'm obsessed with the tee shirt thing.  I've got time...I've got time...I hope.  One more try at that shirt first.

I hope to model a perfect fitting tee shirt for you here soon.