Seamwork Bo Top

Pattern/Technique: Bo box top by Seamwork, size 18

Modifications: Shortened length by 1.5”

Materials: 1.75 yds (44” wide) Ruby Star Warp & Weft Holiday

New skills: Bias facing

Lessons: When attaching the cuffs, the instructions tell you to topstitch (aka not in the ditch of the seam, but offset from the seam), so you want to align the inner cuff with the line of stitches, rather than overlap it.

Collar staystitch should be a scant 1/4” (some of mine was visible below the seam because I wasn’t accurate.

When making bias tape with a bias tape maker, it’s important not to pull on the fabric tape itself (or drag your iron over the folded edge while you’re pressing it) , which will cause it to stretch out and not fold correctly when being fed through the tool. Instead, just pull on the tool and repeatedly press and lift your iron in little sections.

What I'd do differently: I’d like to work on making the spacing more even on my topstitching by slowing down my sewing speed.

I'll only shorten the top by 1”. On the bottom hem I could only do the 1.5” fold before I hit the same length as the Torrena box top, so I serged the raw edge instead of doing the 1/4” fold to hide it.

Care: Machine wash cold, dry flat.

Block Tee 02 (new drafting)

Pattern/Technique: Block Tee (new drafting) in size 22 by Paper Theory Patterns

Modifications: None, though slightly winged it on the sleeve & bottom hems. Sleeve hem: folded 1/2” then 1 1/2”. Bottom hem: folded 1/2” then 1 3/4”.

Materials: 1.5 yds of grey striped cotton shirting from Joann Fabrics

New skills: n/a

Lessons: I tried something new where I batch cut a bunch of projects before starting to sew, and I think that’s a really good workflow change for me because I find cutting to be pretty mentally draining due to pattern tetris and maneuvering fabric around my cutting table.

What I'd do differently: After reading the description of the collar, I suspect I may have done the bound collar incorrectly on both Block tees I’ve made. Next time I make this I want to look at some more finished garment photos & look up a tutorial to verify.

I feel like my right angle seams on the sleeve insertion were better executed on my last Block tee, so next time I want to be more careful about measuring and clipping the seam allowances.

I don’t love the fit with this fabric. The stiffness of the cotton shirting paired with the oversized fit is causing some collapsing around the shoulders and underarms, while the bottom hem is flaring out. Interestingly, I compared the finished dimensions of the Block tee with the Seamwork Bo top and the Bo is actually wider than the Block across the bottom hem and arms, but because I made the Bo in a fabric with some drape the overall fit looks a lot nicer. Might be worth retrying it in a linen/rayon blend.

Care: Machine wash cold, lay flat to dry.

Epilogue: (May 13, 2023) I haven’t been reaching for this shirt to wear at all due to the drape/fit issues caused by the stiffness of this fabric. I pulled it out of rotation and plan on reclaiming the fabric for small projects.