Interesting knit top challenge - bandage t shirt.

RuthieK's original post concerning her knit top challenge was to make one or more knit tops inspired by some garments from CCfashion

I quite fancied this one.

I used the Jalie sweetheart top, 2794 as the base of the t shirt. I chose this because not only have I made it many times, but the upper front bodice has an overlay section that I thought would make it easy to attach the gathered strips to the front just above the bust.



That part was pretty easy. I gathered the top of two rectangular pieces of the thin merino knit, (The Fabric Store, Sydney), finished the long edges with a coverstitch, and lay the strips over the lower bodice, which I had pinned to my dress form. I started the gathered strips 2cm above the Jalie neckline. I then wove the pieces.
However, I did not like the appearance of the t shirt with the woven strips sewn into and added empire seam. It was mysteriously flattening to the bust and added unusual lumps to the belly, not my best look.
I started again, as fortunately I had not chopped off the ends of the gathered strips yet and could unpick my machine basting. Instead I crossed the gathered strips under the bust, and sewed them into the side seams.



This was much better, but unfortunately, there is no back interest to the shirt, as I did not have enough fabric left over to extend the strips to the back at the waistline, which was my orginal intention. The side seams of the shirt are pulled forward a little by the gathers, which I think would be prevented if the lower strips met at centre back instead. I also forgot to make a square shoulder adjustment, so the top is a bit high at the back neck, but this is not necessarily a bad thing for a winter top.
Orginally, I tacked the woven strips to each other where they cross, as suggested in Pattern magic 1 for the woven top in this book, but I found that this was not successful in the knit fabric, preventing the strips from moving freely with trunk movement. I unpicked these, and the strips appear to stay in place very well after wearing the top around the house for a few hours.

I am quite happy with this top as a first attempt. My teenage fashion panel admire it, and as I have used wool, layered at the front, and cut double at the back, this will be a lovely warm top for going to casual dress events in the evening - we have a 40th birthday BBQ to attend in a country hall next week, it is sure to be very cold!