I am so thrilled with how this tee turned out! The second winter hits in Perth I seem to have a never ending desire for more long sleeved tops. Every year. I mean where are all the tops going that I keep feeling i need more? It’s probably the lack of central heating making me feel constantly cold, ha! I am trying really hard this year to be intentional with my fabric use and use up as many fabric scraps as I can before I cut into anything new, and that’s basically how this tee was born! After making Bunny’s gorgeous floral dress there was a rectangle of fabric left that wasn’t really big enough to make anything with but it was too pretty to waste.
Briar tees are basically my favourite wardrobe staple, and given how much i still wear the Liberty back Briar i made 5 years ago (seriously though, how is it possible that time is moving so fast?!) I thought i would try and do something similar. Unfortunately the back pattern piece of the Briar tee was too large for the scrap i had left, but was just enough for the front pattern piece! For the sleeves and back I ended up using the scraps leftover from the Rowan tee I made last year. I considered that tee to be a bit of a failure as a garment because it was too see through to wear on it’s own, so i really only use it for layering. But here for the back and sleeves it didn’t really matter! Due the odd shapes of the scraps leftover I couldn’t quite get the full length sleeves cut in a single piece so I ended up splicing together some of the scraps to make the sleeves and then added some cuffs just to finish off the last bits of fabric.
The jeans are my skinny Ash jeans, and they are definitely getting a fair workout this winter!
Now onto the negatives, I’m not going to lie to you the spliced sleeve is my least favourite part of this garment. Don’t get me wrong, i’m thrilled to have used up all that fabric that wasn’t being used for anything – but i really don’t like where the seam hits on my arm. Having a seam just below the elbow looks a little odd in my opinion. Perhaps I’m wrong? But i just feel like that whole seam just looks weird. I am honestly incredibly tempted to chop the sleeves off and make it a short sleeved tee. The only thing stopping me is that then the sleeves would go to waste. I am trapped by my desire to avoid waste!
But having made that one complaint I am super happy with this tee! I’m so glad to have used up these leftover pieces of fabric and to have a nice comfy tee out of it. I honestly think i need to do projects like this more often. I generate so many fabric scraps, and quite often there is enough yardage left to fit one or two pattern pieces. Turning them into useful garments with a complimentary fabric is a much better solution than keeping indefinitely in that box in my wardrobe… that is actually more like 3 boxes.
But it’s ok because once again i’ve justified to myself that hoarding every scrap of fabric was worth it, so there is basically no hope for me now!
