Hot Pink Scout Tee!

Continuing my fall sewing plan journey, I got busy late last night and whipped up my pink scout 3/4-sleeve woven tee.  I made a couple of changes from my wearable muslin, namely I went down from a size 8 to a 6, as it was a bit loose in the shoulders, and I lengthened the sleeves based on the tutorial on the Grainline Studio blog.  I didn't have enough fabric to do the longer sleeves on my first version, but I wish I had tested it first (more on that later).  The final change I made was to not do the french seams, as the fabric for the pink version is a bit beefier, and it wouldn't work as well.

First things first, I happened to take a picture when I was cutting it out, and I just want to mention that I will never go back to pins or cutting out with scissors if I can help it!  Pattern weights are just so much easier and faster to use, and the rotary cutter is much more precise as well as faster.

And without further ado, I give you the completed shirt!  It doesn't quite have the crisp, tailored look I was going for, and in hindsight, I should have realized it.  While the Scout tee is a super simple, quick, satisfying pattern to sew, it doesn't come with details like darts and any closures.  This gives it a loose fit, and it's particularly noticeable in the upper sleeves with the long sleeves.  I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to sleeves, but I do know there has to be a certain amount of ease if not working with a stretch fabric, but I wish they were just closer-fitting.  It just feels a little sloppy to me, but it is a very comfortable shirt, and I love the color.

 

This photo shows the texture of the fabric a bit better, which is really the stand-out feature.  It's a cotton/silk woven fabric, which is a bit like raw silk, just less shiny and a little heavier.  Looking at this photo, I'm thinking maybe I should add two patch pockets at the bottom, to give it a little more interest - what do you think?

And just for fun, a closing shot of the insides.  Instead of the french seams, I serged all the seam allowances, as this fabric would fray like no other otherwise.  I used a scrap of bias tape that I had left-over from another project for the neckline binding, which was literally the exact size I needed.  And who doesn't like have some stripes on the inside?