A Scout Tee sewn from an old beach sarong…and how to fold your shirts for traveling

From beach sarong to T-shirt! I bought a beach sarong on a trip to Brazil a few years ago (made in Indonesia, ironically) and after a while the fine woven fabric had ripped. Ruing the loss of these great colours and print, I regretfully tossed it into my textile recycling bag, but a few weeks later I realized that this sarong would make a great lightweight T-shirt. I’m not normally a fan of tees made of woven fabric but these colours demanded I give Grainline Studio’s Scout Tee a shot.

Much has been written about the Scout Tee as many sewists have made it, so I won’t say much except to add that the cut is way too generous. I cut the size that corresponded to my body measurements but was still swimming in it width-wise. I ended up taking it in along the sides by at least 2 or 3 inches. Oh and I’ll also add this comment: I don’t get the hype around the Scout Tee. This pattern costs $16 US which is a small fortune for such a basic tee. ‘Nuff said.

Recently I went to Berlin for a vacation. Here are a couple of shots taken inside the Hamburger Banhof museum of contemporary art in Berlin.

Having done a lot of traveling in my life, I was shocked to learn only a few months ago that there is a GENIUS way to fold your shirts for packing that I hadn’t previously known about. This is a life-changer, folks! Or, at least, a travel-changer. This method creates a snug little self-contained sausage roll that won’t unfold in your suitcase. Here’s how to do it:

folding1 — Step 1: lay the shirt out face-down and smooth out any wrinkles

folding2 — Step 2: turn up the bottom edge by about 12cm/4 – 5 inches as if you were turning up a pant cuff

folding3 — Step 3: fold in one side by a third. Fold the sleeve neatly if necessary.

folding4 — Step 3: fold in the other side to overlap and fold the sleeve in so you have a long rectangle.

folding5 — Step 4: starting at the top, begin tightly rolling the shirt down towards the turned-up hem.

folding6 — Roll all the way to the bottom, smoothing out wrinkles as you go.

folding7 — Step 5: flip the turned-up hem to wrap around the rolled shirt to hold everything in place.

folding8 — That’s it! Now you have a neatly rolled up bundle that you can throw in a suitcase and it won’t unfold into a jumbled mess!

Rolled up T-shirts in packing cube — It’s even better if you put your little sausage-rolled shirts into a packing cube like this one…they come in various sizes and make rifling through your suitcase a breeze, with no re-folding necessary.

As long as we’re on the subject of travel, please enjoy some snaps of street art I took around Berlin.

A model of the Titanic made of chocolate…and a chocolate Brandenburg Gate in the background. Spot the excited Lori.

I made a point of taking pictures at two very different fabric depots in Berlin…will share those with you in another post.

Thanks for stopping by!

9 thoughts on “A Scout Tee sewn from an old beach sarong…and how to fold your shirts for traveling”

The chocolate Titanic is awesome 🙂

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Lori B. says:

May 28, 2017 at 9:32 am

Right??? Lol

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wow that scout tee is so gorgeous!

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Lori B. says:

May 28, 2017 at 9:33 am

Thanks, Chris!

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I also don’t get the hype about Scout; that said, yours fits well and looks great. And thanks for the packing tip. I use packing cubes for my large family already but this method is going to be so helpful!

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Lori B. says:

May 28, 2017 at 9:34 am

Thanks, Masha. I think you’re gonna love that folding method…makes traveling so much easier, especially if you have multiple destinations in one trip.

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Yours would make a person buy the Scout, though! Fabulous fabric and fit.

Did you make your jeans and pants in the photos? If so, what patterns did you use?

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Lori B. says:

May 30, 2017 at 8:22 pm

Thanks, Laura! The pants are both ready to wear. The pedal pusher jeans are “Hell Bunny” brand (love that name), but I expect Patterns by Gertie would have a similar pattern available. The wide-leg trousers are from Zara but before I decided to buy them, I was ogling the very similar Megan Nielsen Flint pants (see https://megannielsen.com/products/flint)

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I would never have guessed that this tee began life as a beach sarong! It’s great as a woven top, for sure. =)

I cannot believe the Scout pattern costs that much now–I bought it a few years ago and I *know* I didn’t pay that for it. (Okay, I had to look it up: I paid $9.50 for it in 2014.) I do still wear the one I made, but I doubt I’ll use the pattern again, simply because I have so many other things I’d rather make. It’s a great pattern for showing off a cool fabric though, just as you’ve done here!