Going back to work after the Christmas break is always tough so I thought I’d create a couple of new outfits to help ease me into it. This was supposed to be an ensemble, but I’ve only managed the top thus far. I’ve been looking at the Grainline Studio patterns for about a year, and finally succumbed to the lure of a couple of their patterns (luckily before my self-induced embargo on increasing my stash). The first one to be made is the Scout Tee. I have a million t-shirt patterns in my stash, and I do have some for woven fabrics, but I do like this pattern, and hey, it supports an independent design company, so all good. I used some fabric from my stash – natch. I have no idea what it is – rayon I think. I bought it for a different purpose but have often looked at it regretting that I didn’t buy more. However, I had just enough for this project. One of my NY resolutions is that I am going to improve my finishing, so this t-shirt has got French seams and I bias bound the armscye. It’s hard to see in this photo, but I almost feel as though I could wear this t-shirt inside out. I’m pretty happy, especially with the French seams, which gave me so many problems on my xenium dress! It would have taken an hour or so to make this top had I used the overlocker, but the French seams and binding took a bit of time, particularly as I had to scrape together the binding from lots of bits. I note that there are people who are not comfortable in joining bias binding, but there is an easy way. The first thing to do is to snip off the angled edges so that they are now square. Then lay one on top of the other at right angles as shown. I have drawn a chalk mark to show the sewing line. Once sewn, the seam can be trimmed and pressed open and you will have a continuous line of bias. The bias was also used for the neck facing, so it’s good to get it under control. In order to complete the bias circle, as it were  – I just leave a bit of a gap at either end, work out where the join is to be, and join in the same way as above. It gives a beautiful finish. I did add 4cm to the length of the top and I’m glad that I did, I probably could have added a little bit more, but I didn’t have enough fabric. My only other issue was that the sleeves and hem both had 1/2″ hem allowances. This is not a lot. I could have added bigger hems, but wanted to see how it looked, and, as mentioned, I was a bit stretched for fabric. In order to manage a double fold in such a short distance, I sewed a line of stitching 1/2″ from the edge, with the tension slightly tightened. This gives me a line to do the first fold to, and then the stitches help the fabric fold for the final hem. I use this technique for everything now. Other than all this, the pattern is a dream to make. The details: Fabric is from the Bentley TAFE design shop

Pattern is Grainline’s Scout Tee.

Skirt is Blacky Dress

Belt is “Life with Bird” from Ricarda pop up shop (Claremont)

Shoes are Fiona McGuiness

Necklace is from a street market in Barcelona