Black & White Boxy
Pattern: Self-drafted (with a lot of help!)
Fabric: Merchant & Mills cotton from Stitch Sew Shop
Sewn Up: Fall 2018
Before I learned to sew, all I ever wanted to find in a clothing store was a slightly cropped boxy T-shirt with not-too-short, not-too-tight sleeves, ideally in a fun print, ideally with a boat neck. I could usually find one or two of those things – a great print, but the sleeves too short; a nice big sleeve, but in the wrong color.
This shirt ideal was inspired by a ready-to-wear top I found in 2015 – slightly cropped, boxy, big sleeves, boat neck, covered in color swatches that reminded me of Matisse’s cut-out palettes.
My mom always used to say you just need one “signature outfit,” and this top became mine. I wore it to public speak for the first time. I wore it to networking events I felt nervous about. I wore it once to the airport, and when a woman in the security line asked me,“Are you an artist?” I found myself answering “yes” for the first time ever to that question.
One of the reasons I learned to sew was so I could make this exact top in all the prints of the rainbow. So when I saw that my local sewing shop had a class called “Knock it off” I signed up. We spent three nights tracing our favorite garments, reverse-engineering darts and seam allowances and hemlines. It was magic! We graduated with pattern pieces in hand.
But my first attempt at making the top from the pattern did not go well – the fabric was too drapey, so the sleeves didn’t have the volume I wanted. I had never cut rayon before, with all its movement, and my hem hung lopsided. And even though I had chosen the fabric myself – a super soft navy watercolor floral – it felt wrong on me.
I didn’t try again for six months, even though I carried the pattern around with me every time I visited the sewing studio, just in case I felt up for it. Then one day I was browsing the remnants and saw this perfect yard of black and white cotton. It reminds me of a lot of things at once – finger prints, zebra stripes, the magic eye books of my childhood. I decided to ride the wave and just cut right into it then (my local sewing studio is both a shop and a workspace where you can just hang out all day and sew!).
This project gave me my first lesson about pattern placement – my inclination to just center everything left me with two bulls-eyes exactly where I did not want them! And although I had not been patient enough to go home and pre-wash, I decided it was worth it to recut the front piece.
This is now one of my most-worn shirts (even though the sleeves did shrink slightly in the wash!). I think of it as my “Sewing Best” so far – I wear it on first dates and feel great, with the bonus that I have a visual aid for when I inevitably start to gush about how much I love sewing. I wore it on my first visit / pilgrimage to Mood Fabrics in New York. I was wearing it when I had an accidental hour-long run-in-in-tiny-inescapable-group-setting with someone who broke my heart, and it made it easier somehow.
I’ve made two more since, and I still carry this pattern around with me every time I visit the sewing studio, in case inspiration strikes. I still think of this as my dream shirt, and I’m glad that when my original Matisse palette version is no longer wearable (it’s certainly heading in that direction) I’ll have some backups!
~ Photos by Lizzie Epstein - thanks sis! ~
Drawing process reel! Closet floor photo, metro sketch, digital drawing.
