TNT Tees - final post, I promise!

Voting is underway for the Pattern Review TNT Tees contest.  Go on over and vote for your favorite (if you are a member).

I'm so pleased with my 5 new tees.  I've been wearing them all.  My favorite is the gray and white stripes, though. :-)

Purple Tee

Striped Tee

Yellow Tee

Red Tee

Flamingo Tee

Purple Faux-Wrap Tee

Here is my final tee for the Pattern Review TNT tee contest, ending tomorrow!  I often have grand plans to enter these contests and seldom follow through, so this is a little victory for me.

The final tee is a faux-wrap look (or criss-cross neckline or something).  I drafted the neckline from the crew-neck version.  I think the original pattern came with a variation that looks a lot like this, but I have no idea what happened to the "front" pattern piece for that.

 The fabric is a ribbed, very stretchy rayon jersey that I've had in my stash for years.  I don't have many garments in this deep purple color, but this top reminds me how much I like it!  You can see from the back view below how drapey this fabric is.  I'm thinking it would have made a nice dress.

 Having made 5 of my TNT tees in the last month, I can really see how different knits behave with the same pattern.  Typical tee shirt knit fabric makes structured, comfy tees (here and here).  A firmer RPL with little stretch makes for a very form fitting (borderline tight) version.  Drapey rayon yields fluid, loose results like this purple one and the yellow one.

Luckily, unlike the red one, I do have the perfect cowl for when temps finally cool off.

 You can really see how I made my long sleeves super long.  I always do this.  I have super long arms and grew up with long sleeved shirts that were never long enough, so I not-so-subconsciously overcompensate now! :-)

Gray and White Striped Tee

This is a very basic tee except for the fabric.  I created that the same way I made my navy and white striped jacket fabric last year.  First I cut long strips, selvage to selvage, from gray and white, and then I stitched the strips together to make a new striped fabric before cutting out the tee shirt pattern pieces (careful to match colors across sleeves and front to back) and stitching them up.

 I used a darker gray top-stitching on each edge of the gray stripes for a little extra pizzazz.

 This was a pretty easy project, but it makes a statement.  My husband said "Wow!" which isn't usually the reaction for a knit top.  :-)  I've gotten compliments from friends also.  I think it's a combination of the obvious craftsmanship (different fabrics, not a printed stripe) and the fact that this is completely "my style."  Love it!

TNT tee - boat neck

Here is tee #3 for the Pattern Review TNT tee contest.  I have #4 complete.  It just needs photos.  I'm trying to decide whether to whip up one more tonight.  I guess I'll see how I feel about it tonight.  :-)

 The only changes I made to the pattern were to make a wider boat neck and rolled short sleeves.  To hold the sleeve roll in place, I just did some stitching at the underarm, and I adjust the outside when I put it on in the morning.  The rolls stay fine throughout the day.

 The fabric is a very thin rayon knit from Pennie Fabrics in Sarasota (AMAZING fabric store I finally went to check out - well worth a 40+ minute drive).  Shoot, I'd probably be willing to do the drive to work there part time.  It has narrow yellow and white stripes.  Since the fabric was quite sheer, I doubled it for the entire tee.  This made a very neat neckline with no need for binding.  I just top-stitched it.

 I'm wearing the tee with my recent denim skirt.  I can't believe it has been a month since I made this skirt.  It still feels brand new even though I wear it all the time.

V-neck Tee

Here is my second tee shirt for the Pattern Review TNT tee shirt contest.  For this one, I went with a wide, deep V-neck and 3/4 sleeves.

(Also, I cut my hair.)

 There isn't much to say about it, this being a TNT pattern.  :-)

 I think this would be great with a long cowl or scarf, but I don't have one that coordinates.  Sounds like I need to plan something.  I'm feeling like maybe an extra large Princess Franklin Plaid Collar.