Blank canvas tee #1

My face was not cooperating with photos on 5 hours sleep, so today's pics are all about the outfit.

Forgive the slightly ridiculous pose,
I'm not very good at this yet

Bag & jeans: H&M
Shoes: ZAZ outlet, St Josse
Necklace: from Zimbabwe via Greenbelt festival

T-shirt: why I made it myself, thank you very much.

By rights, however, all thank yous in this post go to Steph of 3 Hours Past, who has drafted and made available for FREE the Blank Canvas Tee pattern.

The pattern is really easy to sew - just four seams (side & shoulders x2 each) and then hemming. It's also very simple to adapt: I used the second smallest shoulder size, with the sleeve length of the largest and tracing in to the waist/hip line of one of the middle sizes. I changed the neckline and bottom shirt edge, tracing both from the Colette Sorbetto top; while I like the shape of the neckline at the front, I should have kept the higher line at the back, because it gapes across the shoulders. Also, I'll be honest, what's gained in armpit modesty with the sleeves is more than lost at the cleavage (um, never mind ;-)

What's very cool though is that Steph did some kind of 'open source' pattern drafting for it, collecting comments and feedback on her blog and coming up with a simple t-shirt that deals with many of the sizing issues people have with standard top patterns (namely, the bust/shoulder proportions).

I guess it's pretty rare for someone to put so much effort into a free pattern (logically, really) and in my opinion you can tell the difference. I have been looking for a basic, comfortable t-shirt pattern that actually fits well and wears nicely, for a long time. I've been reluctant to shell out for an actual pattern because, well, for a t-shirt it just gets a bit expensive. But I also have been reluctant to follow the usual internet route of tracing around a well-fitting shop-bought top, because the problem I am trying to solve is precisely that I don't have any.

So, to say I have been happy to find that this works for me is an understatement.  Thank you Steph! (And good luck with Cake Patterns!)

And, yes there is a blank canvas tee #2 already. No doubt there'll be more too. To be blogged once I get some photos.