Fake Renfrew Tee

Three-quarter sleeve, scoop-neck, black-and-white striped Not A Renfrew tee.

What is this, the end of the world? Could I really be sewing cake and enjoying it? Yes, it's true, fellow sewasauruses, I have made myself the most basic of basics, a plain tee in neutral colors. Maybe the comet will strike soon and render my sewasaurus self extinct?

Back view, slightly twisty because I'm trying to turn and give directions to my husband about shooting.

Side view. Stripes matched, again!

My picked-apart tee and the resulting pattern. I just taped on the
scooped-out front section so that I could flip it back when
cutting, instead of drawing up another piece for the front. I am
azn-ly thrifty even with my giant roll of brown paper.

After seeing all the Renfrew tops floating around the sewing blogosphere, I decided I had to get in on the action...only I can't shake the azn thriftiness ingrained in me by my parents (hello, Dad! How's that eight year old Walgreen's sweatshirt holding up?). Much as I would love to support* Sewaholic's awesome patterns, I just can't justify spending that much for something I feel like I should be able to draft myself. Or in this case, trace. I took one of my old tees that fits superbly, but is too grotty for public wear, took it apart (you should have seen the pile of serger thread I picked out!), and traced it off onto some brown wrapping paper. And seriously, without fitting issues or seam finishing, this thing just flies together! I could totally see making up a whole fleet of these, provided I had enough different knits, of course. I still have enough to make another short-sleeved version, but I don't think I need more than one. Maybe my sister will want one.

Unfortunately, the stripes weren't quite as easy to match up on this. The fabric was ever so slightly stretched out near the selvages, and neither as pliable nor as possessed of powers of recovery as my coral stripe knit dress. In fact, my machine was pretty grumpy about sewing this fabric, which was surprising to me. I expected the whisper-thin, floaty coral stripe knit to be an issue, but instead this fairly thick and stable knit kept wanting to get sucked down into the bobbin compartment. When it came time to using the twin needle, which unfortunately is not ballpoint and therefore has more issues with knits, my machine downright refused to sew through multiple layers. Because of that, I opted to "finish" the neckline by just sewing in a circle with the double line of stitching, and leaving the edge raw. It's not going to unravel, and I'll just say it's a, umm, design feature. I also left the bottom edge unhemmed, which actually makes it less obtrusive when tucked into my high-waisted shorts.

Unhemmed bottom edge, and a little baggy under the arm.

I really like how this tee fits through the torso and shoulders (for once, my shoulder seam isn't hovering over my bra strap! Yay for sewing to fit my own measurements!), but I think the arms are the teensiest bit baggy. Not surprising since I just guesstimated that part of the pattern, as the original tee I traced was a cap-sleeve tee. It does afford a nice range of motion, though, and my arms don't feel like they've been stuffed into casings. Frankly, I'm not sure it's even an issue at all, except that it doesn't look as sleek as it could. Ah well, whatever, sleekness is for sausages, pony rumps (but not pony rump sausages), and the "after" pictures in restorative shampoo ads. Seeing as how my upper arms don't fall into any of those categories, I'm willing to let it go.

I can stretch luxuriously!

I can wrangle an unwilling Walnut!

Summary:
Fabric: 1 yard of black and white striped thick poly-blend knit from SAS Fabrics' discount shelf
Notions: none
Hours: 1!!! I whipped this up during my husband's Call of Duty session and he couldn't believe I had already finished a new top. Seriously, why go shopping when you could just sew?
Will you make this again? Oh yes. Best waste of an RTW tee ever!
Total cost: $1.50
Final thoughts: I love this top. Even with its unfinished edges and wonky double-stitching (shh, it's on the back of the neckline, which I purposely didn't photograph!), my husband declared it good enough to join the ranks of "real" clothes (I'm afraid superhero dresses don't quite count as "real" in his mind...but it's okay, they're loved and worn like the Velveteen Rabbit). I was afraid that the black and white stripes might make me look like the Hamburglar, or maybe a Sephora bag, but he reassured me that I don't look anything like either. Thank goodness. Even so, I don't think I'll be wearing this top into a Sephora anytime soon. While I don't mind looking like an IKEA couch, a cosmetics bag is an entirely different story.

So I'm not the Hamburglar, but I wouldn't be opposed to stealing a pastrami sandwich from Langer's...Seriously, I don't even like pastrami, or coleslaw, or Swiss cheese, or rye bread, but somehow when they are all combined into a #19 sandwich...mmmmmm. Perfect for a celebrating-the-end-of-the-school-year lunch!

So that's two pieces of cake in a row. Gosh, what's next, a pair of (non-Elizabethan) underwear???


*I did, however, show support by buying a Cambie dress pattern, as that's not something I feel like drafting myself.