T shirts with embellishment

Inspired by RuthieK's interesting knit shirt sew-a-long, I have made a couple of t-shirts. I would not go so far as to call them interesting, but they are embellished, which I think is a start.



This t-shirt is made from the left over self fabric lining from the smocked t shirt. It is a thin and unstable, but soft and pleasant to wear rayon knit from Gorgeous Fabrics.



As the fabric is super stretchy, I finished the neckline with robust fold over elastic, using a bridging stitch.
I made a long rufle by folding a strip of the knit over with a 2cm offset, and gathering with a single row of long machine stitch, then pulling it up to a pleasing distribution. I left the edges raw.
I placed one short end at centre front, and attached the ruffle evenly aroudn the neckline using a narrow 3 step zig zag. At the centre neck, I was careful to place the upper edge of the ruffle over the starting raw edge, then continued past the centre neck at an angle that placed the ruffle above the bust. This section of the ruffle could have been a bit higher- I had not allowed for the extent that the fabric stretch skewed my placement, but it is too difficult to unpick for correction.


The center front end of the ruffle ia short section sewn seperately below the starting end of the ruffle.

It looks continuous with the neckline ruffle in place. I cut the end of the ruffle in a taper shape.


Due to the thin and unstable nature of this fabric, I used hand catch stitch again for the sleeve hems, and left the bottom un hemmed, as I will wear it tucked in.


This purple t shirt is inspired by a RTW one that a friend was wearing. Hers has a lot of short lengths of ribbon running vertically at the front only, but I like tops to have some interest at the back as well, so I placed my ribbon all the way around the neck. The fabric is a medium weight cotton/lycra knit, and is quite stable. I cut small holes in the t shirt after construction, and wove the ribbon through, tying the ends in a bow, too easy! I have worn this a few times, and the ribbon stays tied - I was worried that it would come loose during wear. I put a peg on the knot of the ribbon when I washed the t shirt, and the ribbon did not work loose or fray.