I keep reading good things about Style Arc patterns. Enough,
that I finally placed an order. I went with my measurements for choosing a size
and once my patterns arrived, I knew I wanted to start with the Susan Top. After
all, you really can’t get more basic than a t-shirt. I traced the pattern and
compared it to my Bernina My Label t-shirt. Of course, the sleeve piece was too
long. The rest, however, wasn’t too far off and curiosity dictated that I sew it
up without any other changes. I pulled a leftover stretch jersey ITY to do the
experiment. Yes, you have seen this fabric before.
I put clear elastic into the shoulders only because it took
such a small amount and hoping I might actually want to wear the muslin.
The instructions have you turn under the neck edge and
top stitch. Instead, I cut a strip two inches wide and did the usual neckband
and coverstitched around the outside of the seam once it was sewn on. It helped
to fill in the neck area.
I didn’t have enough fabric for long sleeves, so ¾ length
for this one.
The resulting t-shirt fits me really well, yet could be a tad shorter. I pulled another less-than-wonderful leftover fabric, a matte jersey, made a
few changes and made another muslin. I took an inch off the hem and morphed a
new sleeve hem using the cap sleeve from view C (the pink one on the upper right) of Simplicity 5502. Yeah, long OOP,
but in the pattern file and handy.
I kept the 2” neck band because I was lazy. I didn’t steam the fabric this time; I merely pressed with a warm, dry iron. Remember - this was the fabric that grew.
I am going wear both of these t-shirts before making any more from the pattern. I have to tell you, so far I’m pleased, and the sting from the postage is quickly fading!
