FO: Double Hemmed Hemlock Tee Hack

Time for some deets on another hemlock tee hack! Man I just can’t leave that pattern alone can I?!! I’d say I’m getting my money’s worth out of this pattern except I can’t say that because it’s free to download here! I bought another pattern from Jen’s collection so my feelings of guilt over getting so much for nothing, feel assuaged for now! You’ll have seen this top in my post about these refashioned trousers. But here’s the lowdown on what I did…

The neckline, cuffs and hemline are all finished using the deconstructed finish I described in this post. But I played with the overall silhouette and proportions of the design as well…

The hem features a wide double hem band with the edges left raw to curl. The idea came about when I realised this jersey lacked weight and was a little too see through in the muffin top area if you know  what I mean! So a double thickness of fabric added weight and solved the see through part as well.

In terms of proportions I’m weirdly being drawn to a more cropped and fitted silhouette up top. So the hem and the sleeves got chopped on this incarnation…

 

To create the hem band I made the hemlock up as normal, then cut straight across the hem at hip level (yes that is masking tape as a cutting guide)…

I used the piece I cut off to create the hem band by folding it in half WS together…

Then serged it around the hem of the shirt. RS together and folded edge of the band aligned with the raw edge of the hem…

This results in a double layer of fabric with raw edges that will curl with wear and laundering. An effect I personally love. But you could always reverse the process and end up with a clean, folded edge at the bottom if the deconstructed/raw edge look isn’t your bag…

Sleeve wise, I wanted to echo the cropped proportions of the body so cut them to elbow length…

I cut strips from my fabric remnants using, you guessed it, masking tape as my guide. (See this post on why masking tape is so useful in the sewing room!)

(I find a bit of spray starch along the edges of jersey keeps it from curling so much during the cutting/construction process. 😉 )

 

Then used those strips to finish the neckline and cuffs with the same raw edge finish. Full  step by step on that can be found here . This is a less trimmed down version of the neckline in that post…

There are 2 more hemlocks that I haven’t blogged, and I think I now have 6 in total ha! The Hemlock by Grainline Studio  and the Maya by Marilla Walker are fast becoming….scratch that…they ARE my two TNT top patterns. Not because they have show stopping qualities. But because they are well drafted simple wardrobe basics that are ripe for little customisations like this. And Amen to more patterns like that!