Fail Turned Favourite

Bonjour, bonjour ! 🙂

This tee-shirt is from NewLook 6470, and it is supposed to be a fail.

If you look at the pattern drawing (view D), the fit looks nothing like this. This top is supposed to hug the body. I surmise the knit fabric I used wasn’t stable enough by a long run. This was a remnant from the bargain tables in front of Boeken’s (same old favourite from my Amsterdam days).

When I tried on the top and saw how large (and indecent!) it was, I burst out laughing, and got ready to take it apart and start over with a smaller fit. Then I got to think that it might be cute to wear as an oversized top layered over a tank top.

The only problem was the armholes – way too wide and lanky. I remedied that by binding them with a stable black knit.

The single other alteration I did was to the front – I took the gathered side in at the top, to give the fabric a nicer drape. The initial version was really too droopy, even for a layered top.

The edges were hemmed on my coverstitch machine. I hadn’t been able to take it to my previous flat in Paris, but this time my Dad secretly managed to fit it into the car before we drove South, and I had a lovely surprise upon unloading my stuff. 🙂

This was not what I had in mind at all, but it turns out I love this top, and I’ve been reaching for it time and again over the past two weeks when I want a casual look. I just feel – cute in it, even though I may look my age even less than usual.

This was the third time I used this pattern (the first two versions, view A and A/B, are here and there), and as you’ll see shortly – I’ve used it twice more since! Using a pattern 5 times is a personal record – and to be honest, the envelope never even appealed to me (don’t you guys agree the model looks decidedly dowdy?).