T-shirt shrug

T-shirt shrug

I was supposed to be at a barbeque on this gloriously sunny Sunday afternoon, celebrating the success of the Witt Studio Chorus Summer Showcase. Unfortunately my kind husband decided to share his filthy germs with me, and now we’re both too ill to go. Bah.

I’ve spent most of the day sitting on the sofa feeling sorry for myself, watching Torchwood and Doctor Who, and looking at the internet in the name of research for a new range of clothing that I have in mind. While I was wandering about on Pinterest, I stumbled across this tutorial for turning a t-shirt into a shrug.

Deciding that I couldn’t go a whole day without making something (not even a poorly Sunday), I dragged an old organic t-shirt out of the languishing stash, set about it with scissors, the sewing machine and a bit of ribbon. The whole thing took less than an hour – including taking photos and writing this.

The only thing I did that wasn’t specified in the pattern was to stitch the ribbons into position at the end of the casing. This means that the gathering is no longer adjustable, but it stops the ribbons from disappearing inside the t-shirt.

I have a giant pile of old t-shirts in the Shed, just waiting to transformed into something new. I can feel a few more of these little shrugs coming on, I think.

Butterick 4731

Butterick 4731, View A

I know I’ve already made one little jacket in this fabric, but when I looked at the whole outfit together on the dressform I wasn’t sure. S, I had a little browse on the internet, dashed down to the fabric shop, bought another pattern and made another jacket. As you do.

This one’s Butterick 4731. It goes with a very smart evening dress, and there’s also a pattern for another little bolero. The body of the jacket’s lined, but I didn’t line the sleeves as I wanted it to be very light. It was really simple to make, just five pieces, and no darts or anything. If I make this again I might actually add a couple of darts into the lower back to make it a little more fitted, but I want to wear this one first and see how easy it is to move in. It only uses just over a metre of fabric, so I think it would be fun to make lots of these in different colours of silk, and use them to liven up a plain outfit.

The unusual shape of the front of this jacket is really flattering, and I think it will show off the shape of the corset much better than the other one. It was a very quick and easy thing to make, and I’m really pleased with it!