Planning and Design

I bought an L-sized Lunar New Year t-shirt from Aeon Mall when I was in Malacca and made the mistake of assuming it would fit me. Well, it kinda does, but it is very snug and not very flattering LOL. I did like the print though so decided to try and convert it to a singlet.

Because I hadn’t bought it super oversized I didn’t have much spare fabric to use so decided to try using fold-over elastic to bind the sleeves and collar. I wasn’t sure which red or gold would match the singlet elements so bought a bunch. Luckily at least the brighter red ended up matching 🤣

I was planning on using the Staple Tank pattern from Greenstyles but after assembling it realised how much stretch the fabric needed and so that was a no go. Instead I decided to use the singlet from McCalls M6848. I’ve made the pajama top many times (for non-pajama wear haha, it’s a nice cut) but I’ve never tried sewing the singlet. It is designed for wovens so figured it would be ok for a t-shirt knit. I did have to adjust it (make it less wide) to fit the fabric I had, but figured it would work out because I’m using a knit with some stretch.

Materials

• Pattern:
  • McCalls M6848
• Fabric
  • Cut up T-shirt from Aeon Mall

Construction

Step 1 – disassemble the t-shirt.

Step 2 – place the pattern pieces, aiming to maximise fabric use

Step 3 – adjust the neckline so the print is retained 😂

Step 4 – sew shoulder and side seams

Step 5 – measure the sleeve and collar circumferences and google how much elastic to use for each opening 😅

Step 6 – battle to attach the fold over elastic… 😣

Step 7 – try on the singlet and realise how much needs to be brought it at the underarm LOL

Step 8 – adjust the side seam, reattach the FOE and figure that’s good enough, time to give up!!!

Reflections

So it’s ok. I wonder if I mis-measured the collar, it looks a bit taut… It was definitely more comfortable than the original t-shirt though so I guess that’s a success. I always forget that my shoulders are too broad for a lot of asian ready-to-wear clothing. I will keep it cos no reason to get rid of it, but I’m unlikely to wear it again because if I need to wear a padded bra I’m probably just not gonna bother LOL

Things I learnt:

• Always try store bought clothing on, even if it’s just a t-shirt
• I don’t really like the feel or look of FOE compared to rib/stretch fabric bindings.
• I also don’t particularly enjoy attaching FOE
• I should just make my own Lunar New Year tops. I liked the design so wanted to support the errr conglomerate that sold it??? (what I mean is I felt like it wasn’t very moral in this case to bootleg it since it existed and originated in the real world)
• Buying multiple colours of the FOE might have been the more expensive option but it was also the less stressful one. Plus the colours are useful for potential future projects.

Categories: Sewing

Tagged as: Repurposing

hikaru