Today we will be making a t-shirt that I have been thinking about making since the early spring, but put on hold until after my pregnancy; my Lacy Summer T-Shirt Tutorial. Though the end of summer may be in sight, there are still plenty of warm sunny days ahead and what better way to enjoy the last days of summer than with a light t-shirt made even lighter from a partially lacy back. I’ve seen a lot of wonderful examples of t-shirts incorporating lace into their design out there in the blogosphere. Some of my favorite sources of inspiration include posts from Cotton and Curls, Pearls and Scissors, and So, Zo…What do you Know?. Today will be my own take on the subject. This shirt will have a scooped neckline and hemline to match. The lace on the back of the shirt will mimic the scooped hemline. Read on for my lacy summer t-shirt tutorial.
The skinny:
This shirt was easy to make. My valuable lesson learned this time round was to not make the neck lining too short (it needs to be shorter than the neckline itself, but I not too much so) or else the material gathers around it, as you can see in the back of the shirt.
Materials:
- pattern supplies (pattern paper, pencil, scissors, rulers)
- a shirt you can use as a guide
- 1 yard of knit fabric
- ¼ yard of matching lace
- matching thread
Now onto my Lacy Summer T-Shirt Tutorial
Instructions:
MAKING THE PATTERN
Sewing Daydreams: The Lacy Summer T-Shirt pattern pieces
1. We’re going to start by making the back tee pattern first. Find a shirt that fits you well. Trace around the shirt onto pattern paper. Do not trace around the bottom hem of the shirt. Keep this open as we are going to draw a scooped hem. Now cut out around the entire shirt, except for the bottom which we haven’t drawn in yet.
Fold the pattern paper in half and trim any uneven paper to make sure that both sides are even.
Draw a scooped hemline along one of the bottom halves of the shirt pattern. (I used a French Curve to get it nice and precise). Again, fold the pattern in half and this time cut out the bottom part of the shirt along the line you just drew. Open it up and you should have a nice scooped hemline.
2. Make a second copy of this pattern to be the front of your t-shirt. Draw the front neckline in as desired and cut this out.
3. Now to cut out the part of the back of the shirt pattern that will be lace. Take your back shirt pattern piece and, as with the front pattern piece, draw and cut out an even deeper scooped neckline. Save this cutout piece as this is the pattern piece for our lace.
4. Finally, we will make the pattern for the front and back neck lining. Using your front shirt pattern piece and back shirt pattern piece, trace around each neck line, using a ruler make these neck lining pattern pieces 1½” wide and cut them out.
MAKING THE SHIRT
1. Pin/trace your pattern pieces onto the wrong side of your fabric adding your desired seam allowances. (* You don’t need to any any seam allowances on the neck lining pieces.) Make sure to orient the grain of the fabric so the stretch goes from side to side on your shirt pieces. I traced my pattern pieces onto the fabric using colored pastels. Cut out the 5 shirt parts (4 out of knit material, 1 out of lace).
2. The first thing we’re going to do is to sew a zigzag stitch around the edges of the lace piece, to help prevent it from fraying.
3. Take your shirt pieces and right side together, pin then sew across the top of each shoulder. Trim off any excess fabric.
4. Right sides together, pin and sew from the bottom of the armpit down along the sides of the shirt. Do this for both sides and cut off any excess fabric.
5. Now we will add the neck linings. If you remember from earlier, the neck linings were the only pattern pieces we didn’t add a seam allowance to. This is because we want the neck linings to be several inches shorter than the actual necklines on the shirt so that they have to be stretched when sewn onto the shirt. This will help keep the necklines taught so that they keep their shape. Pin and sew the ends of the two neck linings together so that they form a circle of sorts.
Right sides together, pin the neck lining to the shirt. To make sure it is put on evenly, make sure the seams of the neck lining match up with the top of each shoulder, and that the middle of the front and back neck lining match up with the middle of the front and back of the shirt. Add more pins as you want but you will have to stretch the neck lining to make it fit. Sew these together with a ⅜″ seam allowance, stretching the neck lining as you sew.
Tuck the bottom of the neck lining into the inside of the shirt so you see the right side of the seam. Pin the lining in place onto the wrong side of the shirt and sew this with a wide straight stitch. If possible, use a ½” seam allowance. Now press this is place.
6. Next we will attach the lace to the back of the shirt. Turn your shirt inside out. Pin the lace in place and sew it on. I would sew this several times to ensure that it stays in place.
7. Finally, the last step is to hem the sleeves and bottom of the shirt.
Done! I hope you enjoyed my Lacy Summer T-Shirt Tutorial!