Seriously? Another t-shirt?

I know. It's another t-shirt. But what can I say? I like me some t-shirts. They are comfy! Plus, this is what I really needed. But soon you will see me tackling some new things. Especially now that it's warming up outside. 73 degrees today!

My first time attempting a Butterick pattern. Butterick 5354 Fast & Easy to be exact. I used my standard size 12 top and graded it out to a 14 for my hips.

I decided to make the short sleeve (green) version.

I have to say, if you are beginner and you are doing one of your very first patterns do not start with Butterick. Start with Simplicity or McCall's. Not that this was very difficult, they just don't explain things as thoroughly in the pattern instructions as Simplicity or McCall's. They expect you to know more and have some experience.

For example, this is an instruction from Butterick on how to fuse and finish a neck facing:

And here is an instruction from a standard Simplicity pattern on how to fuse and finish a neck facing:

And lastly, here is an instruction from a McCall's "Learn to Sew" pattern on how to finish a neck facing:

So as you can see, depending on the pattern company, instructions on how to do the exact same thing can differ. I'm sure there are many other detailed instructions, and lacking instructions out there.

And now hopefully you can save yourself some stress. And for those people who roll their eyes because this is sewing 101, sorry, let's move on to my top!

This is what I get for having my husband take the pictures. He didn't tell me to fix the shirt! Also, sorry for the wrinkles. I hate to iron.

Since it was too dark to go out and re-take the picture here is it up close on my dress form.

I like how the sleeves are sewn on. I have never done them this way before. For some reason it reminded me of a flower. On the bottom (in the arm pit) the result is this..

See my zigzag stitch? Yeah, I still need a new sewing machine. Just have to decide which one to get and how much I am willing to spend.

The fabric used was from my very first order from Mood Fabrics. Yay! The fabric is dark pink medium-weight cotton jersey. You can find it here. It's very comfortable. I probably won't wear it when its 100 degrees outside, but it is wonderful in this weather.

Knit t-shirts, gotta love them.

A good old fashioned t-shirt. Who doesn't love them? Comfy and cozy. Good for cold, warm, and hot weather. You can wear them out, you can wear them in. You get my point.

Taking the same McCalls 6964 pattern I used on my long sleeve knit t-shirt I made this short sleeve one. I actually intended to make another long sleeve but I didn't have enough fabric to pull it off.

I found this fabric at Joann's yesterday in the clearance section. And on top of that they had 50% off all of their red dot clearance. I think this ended up costing me $4/yard. No too shabby.

It took some work to keep the stripes together when sewing. This side is better than my other side. But I'm still proud.

And as I mentioned before, I need a new sewing machine! Mine is a simple one. Almost like a featherweight machine. It has no stretch stitch options and a twin needle doesn't work. All I have is the zig zag to work with. I put my machine on the smallest one and just hope it works and my clothes don't fall apart on me. Because I do like wearing these knits! But I'm stuck with this being visible. It just screams homemade... I'll survive.