One Down!

I finally finished one of the projects that I started last week.  I made a pink shirt out of stretchy cotton.  The shirt fits but I am not sure how I feel about it yet.  To put it another way, I don't think I will be telling anyone I made it.  I used white thread because I wanted a contrast on the neck line.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to stitch a straight line.  So, now the white thread I thought would add a nice dimension to the shirt only makes it was made by a monkey trained to use a sewing machine.  

Like with the swimming suit, I made this shirt a size 18 (just a note for other novice sewers like myself: the sizes on the packages are not correct.  They say to measure yourself around the bust and waist, but according to those sizes I am a size nineteen.  I was only being optimistic when I made the size 18.  If I had only known to go by the size I would normally by in the store, a 10, I would have saved myself a lot of headache.  Instead, I had to size it down and it is still a little big.).  I also modified the bottom band because I was tired of sewing and didn't want to modify the bottom band that was several sizes to big.  The sleeves did not turn out how I thought they should have either.  I was expecting them to have a little more gather to them, which they should have since I made the body of the shirt so much smaller, but they didn't.  

This shirt taught me some valuable lessons even though I am not thrilled with the outcome.  First, don't go by the size diagram on the pattern package.  Second, I really suck at reading even the simplest patterns.  Third, I should use print jersey cotton for shirts because it will be easier to hide my mistakes.  Forth, don't use a contrast thread when I don't know what the crap I am doing.  All good lessons to learn before finishing my swimming suit.