Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Variations on a Tee # 5: Lace Tee with Contrast Shoulder

Contrast Shoulder Tee Thumbnail



I found this stretch lace on the $2.97/yd table at G Street Fabrics a while back and had been puzzling over what to make it into.  With lace being in style right now I wanted to make it up fairly quickly, but the somewhat blah color and the fact that it would either have to be lined or worn with a camisole was cramping my creativity.

Enter Burda 09-2012-123  with its contrast shoulder and the fact that I had this silk charmeuse in an exactly matching color and voila!  Perfect long top to go with my jeggings.  I got this made in my pre-vacation sewing.  The photos were taken on Mt. Penha in Guimaraes, Portugal.

The contrast shoulder is a nice way to dress up a plain tee, as in this Classiques Entier® 'Pezza' Leather Trim Ponte Top, $168.

Pattern Drafting



I used the Burda pattern as a guide to mark the contrast shoulder on my TNT tee pattern.  I pinned the front and back pattern together along the stitching line at the shoulder, and then drafted the shoulder inset as a single piece.
Bodice Pieces






To cut the body of the tee shirt, I just folded down at my marking and added seam allowance.




Pin Drawstring Casing in Place








I wanted to make the tee long to be worn with the jeggings, but I liked the idea of an adjustable length with ruched sides, rather than just gathering the side seam and permanently fixing the length. I cut a rectangle of fabric the length I wanted, and 2 1/2 inches wide. I marked down the center of the fabric, as this line would be stitched for a channel. I started by sewing the marked center channel line down, starting from about 1 inch from the top and folding under the seam allowance at the bottom.
Insert Drawstring





Then I turned under the seam allowances on the top and the long sides and stitched down the long sides. Be sure to leave the top open at this point so you can put in your drawstring! Once the drawstring is in, stitch along the top, being careful not to catch the drawstring.
Stitch Bias To Wrong Side of Neckline











The Burda is drafted with a keyhole neckline and tie in the back. Since my TNT pattern has a center back seam anyway, I decided to keep that detail. I started by finishing the keyhole, then moving on to the neckline.
Fold Over Bias Trim and Pin

I made bias tape from my contrast silk charmeuse and first sewed it to the inside of the neckline, right side of the bias tape against wrong side of the fabric. The bias tape extended at the end to form the tie.




Then I folded the bias tape over to the right side, pinned, and stitched. I did a *ton* of pressing on the neckline and it still doesn't sit quite right. Maybe I didn't cut my strip exactly on the bias? Regardless, it's something that I think only I will notice.
Back Keyhole Closeup











The back keyhole is a nice little touch, and helps bring the contrast silk more into the tee.

Side

To add a little more interest to this top, I used the sleeve from Butterick 5562, the short sleeve from View A, which is much nicer than the similar but not identical long sleeve from View B.

This was a fun use of my stretch lace, and I thought it made a nice travel piece.  It is cute and trendy, and--most important--doesn't look like work clothes!  If I find the right combination of fabrics I can definitely see making another of these contrast shoulder tees, though probably without the keyhole and the fancy sleeve.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cute! I really like the contrast detail--it's nice and subtle, very classy. :-) I definitely think you should make another one!

Virginia at A Sewing Life said...

That is a fine-looking job on the binding! You look very forest-fairy-modern-hip in these photos.

Trumbelina said...

Cute top. I like all of the details you've used. Your neckline looks great from here!

Kathy {Kathy Sews} said...

The sleeves look great. Nice blending of patterns and personal touches. I've been dying to go to G Street lately and your mentioning of it reminded me how much!

Mrs. Micawber said...

What a lovely pair of fabrics and that photo setting is beautiful. I do like a bias binding and the silk charmeuse must feel wonderful on the skin.

I wonder if it didn't "sit right" due to the kind of bias-y stretch and wavy pattern of the lace? Or maybe it got tweaked slightly sideways when pinning to the reverse - don't know if that makes sense - but if so that could give just a tiny twist to the binding. Honestly it looks fine in the photos.

This top is so feminine and elegant, and perfect with the jeggings. :)

Cennetta said...

Love the look. Excellent review of your process.

Clio said...

It is a great travel piece!

Karin said...

I like the taup-y colour. The key hole neck in the back is a nice detail, too.

Unknown said...

I like that a lot! Very pretty with those sleeves.

AllisonC said...

So many great details on this top, the contrast works so well with the lace.

Jane M said...

It's such a nice surprise when two fabrics go together so well....but also a challenge to make them work in one garment. Bravo for your chic, clever solution!

Faye Lewis said...

Love the side ruching Trina.

Sue said...

Very pretty top! When did your hair get so long! I must be looking at the photos of the clothes and not noticing these details! lol!

niddetissus said...

Ooh, beautiful!

McVal said...

Very nice! Love that key hole

a little sewing said...

clevah, clevah girl! I LOVE that charmeuse bias tape and how you used it so well in this top. It is just darling. Look what a designer you are!

Nethwen said...

This is off topic, but I don't see a way to contact you privately. Last year I moved to within a day trip distance of DC and wondered if you could suggest fabric stores in the area. I'm closer to Richmond than Maryland, if that helps. I tried searching online for your often mentioned G Street Fabrics, but couldn't locate them or any other stores that didn't look like internet junk ads.

T. Sedai said...

Cute! I love the lace fabric - very pretty!

liza jane said...

It doesn't look like work clothes! I was thinking how relaxed you look this outfit. Looks like it was a great traveling piece. I love the detail of making the ruching adjustable, too. Very clever!

Debra Hewitt said...

I love this top!

Dilly said...

Super cute! The colour looks lovely on you, and the modifications you made really suit the style of the top and the fabric you used. I like how the ruched sleeves echo the ruched sides, and the ties at the bottom of the sides echo the ties at the back neck. Lovely! (and I can't notice anything off about the binding :)

Elizabeth Made This said...

I love the pairing of the sleeve with the keyhole.

velosews said...

THe shoulder detailiing is really shart. I love it.