Just ask me how goddamned pleased I am with myself! Go on, ask me!

I’m pretty goddamned pleased, thanks for asking.

This shirt turned out pretty great and you can tell how I feel by that cat-who-swallowed-the-canary grin on my face. (Or maybe that’s just the look I get when I’m waiting for the camera’s self-timer to go off. Must get a remote shutter release.)

As you might know from my earlier posts here and here, I made this entirely from scratch: I bought the cream coloured stretch fabric and screenprinted it with 5 layers of motifs. I cut the basic tee shape based on the outline of a favourite-fitting tee I already owned.

I added a pin-tuck down the centre front, two short pin-tucks on either side of the front neck opening, and two long ones down the back. I drafted a couple of sleeve extensions and sewed them on with decorative zig-zag top-stitching with pink thread, leaving the raw edges exposed. I sewed them closed part-way down but left the bottom half free to swing open, giving a bit of a bell-sleeve effect. (Yes, I know I will regret that the very second I have to wash my hands in a public bathroom and my sleeves drag through the soapy puddles by the sink. But flowy sleeves always seem like such a good idea if you deliberately ignore all the practical information in your brain that tells you they are a pain in the ass.)

That last picture reminds me I’m due for some highlights…those roots are getting pretty nasty. Just booked for next week. 🙂

I left all of the edges raw, except for the neck opening. As a lazy sewist I love working with fabric that doesn’t ravel at the edges!

I think this is a fitting tribute to my creative and poetic friend Jen who died many years ago at far too young an age, but left me with the words Circles, Stars, Bombs, and Flowers to remember her by. Here’s lookin at you, Jen Hiron!