PERFECT PATTERN PARCEL : SHIBORI DYED CONCERT TEE

I am sure that you all have noticed that there have been a crazy amount of concert tees sewn up by the Perfect Pattern Parcel blog tour.  Apparently we all needed some more slouchy tees in our lives.  I would apologize, but I just can’t because I love this tee too much.  It’s just such a great pattern.  I’m pretty sure that I am going to wear it out this summer.

I did make a few changes to the pattern.  First I lengthened the front by about 3 inches.  As much as I like the midriff trend this spring, my post baby stretch marks don’t agree so I am going to be keeping this belly covered for the time being.  I also added two inches to the neckband length.  It seemed a little short for the neckline, but in retrospect I would have only added an inch as it now gapes a bit in the front.  Lastly, instead of hemming the sleeves I folded the band in half, shortening it by a couple of inches.  I just thought that it was an easier and cleaner way to attach the sleeves.

The fabric is some white bamboo knit from Fabric.com.  I used a shibori technique to dye it which I will be posting a tutorial for tomorrow.  I’m pretty excited about how it turned out.  The fabric is soft and has just enough weight to hang and drape beautifully.  I am a big fan of bamboo knits in general.

Just as a tip the hem is very curved which makes it a beast to hem.  Originally I tried to just serge and turn it and it wasn’t going well.  Then I decided to add some fusible hem tape and it made all of the difference (if you have never tried this stuff before you should – it’s a miracle worker on knits).  Because it is such a flowy hem it will really never need to stretch so I decided to just use a simple straight stitch instead of my twin stretch needle to finish it and it worked perfectly.

As you can tell this pattern has been a real favorite of a lot of people – me included.  I have a simple black version already on the books.  It sews up super fast with a serger and the style is on trend and flattering to wear with leggings or skinny jeans for the warmer weather on it’s way (or if you are braver than I – short cutoffs).

You have just about a week left to buy the Perfect Pattern Parcel which includes this pattern along with four other great ones.  I love that this parcel is not only supporting indie patternmakers, but it’s also sending a portion of the proceeds to charity.  And to top it all off you get to choose your own price.  Click here to go and check it all out if you havn’t already.