One thing Me Made May has taught me is that I need more solid colored t-shirts and layering tops.
Luckily, Rae, of Made by Rae fame, has a new t-shirt pattern, Jade, coming out, and she offered me a preview copy (check out her preview blog post here!). I received this pattern for free, but all my opinions about the pattern are my own.
Jade is a lovely basic t-shirt pattern. Yes, there are a lot of t-shirt patterns out there. But I'm firmly in Camp You Can Never Have Too Many T-shirt Patterns. What may work for you may not work for me. And maybe I like having more than one t-shirt option! Sleek t-shirts, slouchy t-shirts, cropped t-shirts...
Jade has two neckline options, scooped and ballet that can be mixed and matched. For mine I went with the scooped front and the higher, ballet back neck. Jade's neckline is so elegant!
Rae provides instructions for several neckline finishes... turn and stitch, a neckline facing, or a neckband. The neckline facing and neckband are cut in two pieces. In the end I opted for a neckband, because I found the neckline facing a bit bulky where the shoulder seams met the neckband seam. When I make the Jade again, I might cut the neckband/neck facing in one piece so that the seam is in the back, where it's less bulky. But that's personal preference.
Jade also includes four different sleeve lengths... short sleeve, elbow length, 3/4th, and full length. I opted for elbow length for mine! Based on Rae's preview, I understood that Jade's sleeves are meant to be slim, but a quick tissue fit suggested that I might need my customary full bicep adjustment. I did a 1" adjustment and they fit just as I wanted- slim, but not tight.
Speaking of slim but not tight, I found myself between sizes on Jade's chart, but opted for the larger size since there is negative ease built into the pattern. I went with a size 1, which gave me 2" of negative ease at the bust and a just a little bit (1/2") at the hips. I'm pretty happy with the size I chose, although I think I could either give myself some room in the bum, or maybe a sway back adjustment?
Jade, like all of Rae's patterns, has all sorts of great construction tips and tricks. She recommends using tricot interfacing to stabilize the neckline and hems for neater sewing. I did a little experiment and used it on the bodice hem, but not the sleeves. I zigzagged both, and found that the hem interfaced with tricot was initially much much smoother. In the end they probably steamed out to the same, but the tricot interfaced hems were much easier to sew!
For fabric, I went with a solid basic Laguna cotton/lycra jersey from my stash. Is a navy t-shirt the most exciting thing in to sew? Nope! But, like I said, it's a necessity in my handmade wardrobe.
Thanks for sending me the Jade, Rae! Great basic tee!