| Back-opening t-shirts |
| We
were making some T-shirts for Camp Wizzy, and received word that some
of the campers had big Hair. With not much spare time before Camp,
and only the Camp Director allowed to wear a scoop-neck shirt, we had
to switch to Plan B and adapt the Volume 1 T-shirt pattern 110A. The Camp logos were already ironed on the shirt fabric, and the t-shirt fronts had then been cut out! |
|
|
|
|
| To cut new backs, I printed 2 copies, and marked 1/4" away from the centre back to allow for a centre back lap. | I applied Steam-A-Seam to the wrong side of each centre back lap; it's self-adhesive, for a temporary bond, and is not stiff. |
|
|
|
| with a tear-away stabilizer (onionskin paper) under the fabric, I sewed the shoulder seams with a narrow zigzag stitch, clipped the corners of the seam allowances, and pressed the seams open. | |
|
|
The neck ribbing was cut 7/8" by 3"; I used a lycra-and-cotton ribbing because it has good stretch recovery. I folded it in half right sides together, and stitched across the ends, with the stabilizer under the fabric. I trimmed the inner corners of the seam allowance, and turned the band right side out. |
|
|
|
| With the neckband against the right side of the shirt, and the ends at the lap fold lines, I folded the laps to the right side, and pinned the band to the neck edge at the ends and at the shoulder seams, stretching the ribbing to fit. | The ribbing was sewn to the neck edge with a slightly wider zigzag stitch. I trimmed and graded the seam allowances, and turned the laps to the inside. |
|
|
|
| I finished the sleeve hems with the Steam-A-Seam; they won't need to be stretched, it looks neat, and there were 20 campers! | Next step: sew the side seams, trim the corners and the underarm curve; apply Steam-A-Seam to the lower hem, fold it up and fold the back laps over it, and press to fuse. |
|
|
|
|
Pretty neat! |
Steam the neck-band to a nice curve, with the seam allowances turned down. |
![]() |
![]() |
And
now we're ready for the snaps. 2, I think, above waist level, in
case the camper wants to tuck her shirt in.
For a velcro closure, I'd use the soft hook-and-loop tape from tiny Zippers. Happy camping, dolls! |