Retro La Brea Tee in Knit

Earlier this year I posted about the La Brea Tee top that I made from a silk woven. At that time I mentioned that I had attempted the knit version but it hadn't worked out. 

Since I have a lot more time now, I went back to it and tried to fix it up to make it wearable. It isn't quite there, but will do nicely as a top to exercise in or just wear around the house. The attempt to attach knit binding to the knit neckline isn't salvageable for real wear, unfortunately. But the rest of it is okay! I think a second try would work out now that I have more of a feel for this. 

The binding around the tee is so cute and retro, I have to try again to get it right. The colour choice is a bit startling, but that is because I'd begun this top for the PatternReview contest in which we were challenged to make something inspired by childhood, and these are the exact colours of my elementary school.

I like this pattern in both woven and knit! I like the details - the bias trim, the fit, the band at the bottom of the knit version. I made it a little looser fitting and longer than the original pattern images indicate, because I don't like form fitting clothing. I think I got the overall shape to my liking, even that bottom band, which I don't often appreciate in a pattern! Just have to choose the right fabrics and get the hang of tidy binding and I might get a wearable version out of it. 

Even the back looks okay to me. This pattern is really nicely drafted for a simple shape, and has those extra little details that add more interest to a tee. The finishing is lovely, the potential for lots of variety is definitely there. There are some sewalongs and hacking tutorials for this pattern on the designer's website, Halfmoon Atelier. I recommend you check it out if this pattern appeals to you.

I hope to have another, more successful version of this to show you soon. Do you ever find that you go back to rescue projects you've given up on? Or do you just get rid of the project and/or the pattern wholesale and go on to another?

A La Brea Woven Tee

The PatternReview Sewing Bee just started, and the first round challenge was to make a tee inspired by your childhood. I have the La Brea tee by Halfmoon Atelier on my to-sew list, and with its 80s styling, I had a plan to make a tee in the colours of my 80's middle school teams. But it turned out to be a disaster -- the stretch was wrong and the stretch bias tape I tried to use for the distinctive lines of the La Brea did not work. Too much distortion and wonkiness. So I gave up on the contest.

But I still wanted to work on the La Brea! While View A of this pattern is for a knit tee with very distinctive bias neck and shoulder edges, View B is designed for a woven, with french seams and sleeve cuffs.

So I found a lovely piece of nubby green silk in my stash, just enough for this top, that I'd picked up at a garage sale two years ago. And I cut the La Brea in a size 7, grading to 9 at the hip. Her sizing is simply numerical, ranging from 1 - 18 which is equivalent to a 28 - 61 inch bust and 33 3/4 - 67 inch hip.

I loved working with this silk. It's gorgeous to handle, presses so well, and drapes like a dream. I'm not sure it is 100% my best colour, but I do really like it.

The french seams are a little fiddly considering that the seam allowances are 3/8" but otherwise this is a straightforward sew. After french seaming the sides and shoulders, you stitch on the sleeve band, hem it, and finish the neckline with a bias facing (my favourite finish).

I like the fit, and this goes great under a cardigan or jacket. When summer arrives I'm sure it'll look nice with a longer, button front full skirt too -- I'm seeing those everywhere and have a couple in mind to try out.

So while I ended up finishing the woven version of this pattern first, I'll be going back to another round of the knit version. I can't stop thinking about that lovely bias edge that was the reason I wanted to make this top in the first place!