Retiring an Old T-Shirt into a NEW Pattern

It's time to move on and get rid of some old clothes!  I have no idea how old this purple and white t-shirt could be.  I bet family and friends are glad I took it out of public circulation.  Technically I didn't throw it in the garbage;  I took it apart to create a pattern.  This took an hour or so to remove the stitches.  Just couldn't get the needle thread to release.  

This purple and white lightweight cotton/lyrca knit is very stretchy.  If your new fabric doesn't have the SAME amount of stretch as the original fabric your new garment will NOT fit as expected.   I folded the old t-shirt fabric to test the percentage of stretch.  It stretched from 4 inches to over 6 1/2 inches.  That's a big factor to consider when you select new fabric to duplicate a pre-existing garment.  Use that stretch guide on the reverse side of the pattern envelope. Lighter weight fabrics typically have more stretch. (The built-in lycra provides recovery.)  To be safe you may wish to add an extra 1/4 inch to those side seams!   This chart was printed on the tissue pattern from a vintage 1974 Simplicity pattern. 

Stabilizer Tip:  I spray the actual fabric pieces with Terial Magic fabric stabilizer.  Let it air dry for a while (hour or two) and then press with an iron until dry.   This will 'lock' the stretch (grain) so you will be able to draw your new pattern without stretch and/or distortion.  The Terial Magic will also keep the edges from curling!

The New Pattern:  I use 'Pellon 830 Easy Pattern' for my new pattern.   When I trace around the original fabric pattern I add a little more to their seam allowance .  The seam allowances on the original garment are ONLY a scant 1/4 inch because they have already been trimmed with their commercial serger.  You need to add 1/4-3/8"  onto your seam allowance because your serger will stitch a new seam at 3/8" plus it may trim 1/8 inch as well.  (Plus an 1/8 extra gives me peace of mind for possible shrinkage. The distance from the left needle to the cutting edge.)   Special NOTE:  The shoulder seam near the neckline has a small 'dog-ear' angle rather than totally straight.  When the edge of the neckline is folded over about 1/2" this extra bit of an angle will allow the 'turn of the neckline' to be flatter,  Otherwise you may get a few puckers trying to fold the neckline edge.  (See neckline photo of finished garment near end of post.)

Hand Basting:  You can use pins if you choose.  I try to avoid using pins because that means I have to stop and start frequently to remove the pins.  I have no patience for that.  (It's like driving in heavy 'stop and go' traffic.)  Frequent stopping may cause an inconsistent stitching line.  I basted in orange for better visibility.  If you baste in a matching color then you do not have to remove the basting if you choose not to.  Sometimes I give myself permission to get lazy.

More reasons to baste seams:  l.) keeps the edges from curling!  and 2.) to eliminate any possible chance of a forward pucker in the seam line!    If you get a pucker then you have to remove the seam and start all over.  It would drive me nuts.  Light weight knits have a tendency to squish, pucker and curl.  

Going over Seam Allowances:  Bumpy side seams with inconsistent stitches are unsightly in my opinion.  People who sew notice these things.  So, here's a technique that works reasonably well on all our domestic machines. Climbing over the bulk with a height compensation tool ( a.k.a. -hump jumper) definitely helps on your regular sewing machine.  It's a little harder to use your hands to support the feed of your fabric with a serger.  (You don't want to smash your fingers under that machine.)  Since I am working with a lightweight knit I will make the hem slightly deeper for better drape. The depth of my hemline will be 1 1/8"- 1 1/4".  Lightweight knits tend to curl if the hemline is too shallow.  Look at the first picture below.  I'm going to clip and twist the seam allowance.   I placed a straight pin at the seam line to prevent my scissor from clipping into the seam.  In the second picture you can see how I flip and twist the seam allowance to the opposite side.  When I fold up the hemline the bulk will be distributed evenly. Sewing across intersections with the seam allowance turned in the same direction causes an unbalanced seam.  This cuts the bulk in half.  Definitely better.

As you can see, there's less bulk at the intersection.  The stitches are more consistent than going across both seams folded in the same direction.  Most machines will 'jam' up trying to stitch over the intersections.   (And this was sewn on my Bernina L890 serger!)

Here's a better visual of what happens when the upper neckline fabric is folded to inside of garment.  On this demo sample (woven) I made a  bunch of 'clips' in order to turn the neckline.  The fabric needs to be stretchy enough to compensate for the areas it must fill.  This is a good neckline for the lightweight rayon-viscose knits. 

What do you think about adding a flat, stretchy elastic as a facing ?  Hmmm.  Some of the scalloped lingerie elastics may conform nicely to a curved edge without adding too much bulk.  Something to explore on my next T-shirt.