Here’s Miriam!
I’m Miriam from madmim.com, and I (probably like you), have been enchanted by this vibrant series from the very beginning, and am tickled to add a project in my favorite hue.
When I was about 9 or 10 years old, I remember there was a kid’s clothing catalog that by the fate or destiny or both made its way to our house. That thing became beloved I tell you, and among neon hues and large plastic buttons I can specifically remember fantasizing about the “fly-away” tees, which I eventually saved my pennies and ordered. Had to have it, couldn’t live without it, you know the drill. Ever since then I’ve had a special place in my heart for a bit of swing in my tee, and am happy to see that the swing tee is back trend for me and my girlies.
This tee is easy as cake [is to eat], and it’s simple design lends itself nicely to some jazzing up. Since fabric stamping or printing is my thang thang, I decided to add a bleached heart design to the front. I’ll tell you about that in a sec, let me give you the run down of the tee. You’ll need:
- a half yard of knit fabric
- sewing machine, matching thread
- stamps, paint/discharge paste, and freezer paper
First of all, draft the pattern. I have included here my drafted swing tee pattern size 2T that you’re welcome to use/size up or down, but here are the basics for drafting one based on your gal’s specific measurements. It’s easy as pie [is to eat], so no sweat ok?
- a)draw the neck opening by measuring your child’s neck circumference, adding 1, and then dividing by 4. Draw a gentle curve this length in the corner of some folded pattern paper (fold is center front) and make sure it goes into the sides at right angles.
- b) measure your child’s chest, add 1 and divide by for. Measure out from the center front and make a mark.
- c)at the mark you just made, move to your right about an inch, and then measure down the distance of your child’s bicep half plus 1. That’s your sleeve opening.
- d)draw a line from the top point of your neck opening that’s 40 degrees from center front. That’s your side seam; connect it to the sleeve opening with a gentle curve that’s perpendicular to the sleeve opening for about a centimeter.
- e) from the top of center front measure down your desire length, and then draw a gentle curve connecting center front to side seam.
After you cut it out you can (optionally) open it up, and cut one side of the neck opening down about a centimeter to create the “front”. Construct tee:
- by adding a neck band to the neck opening,
- sewing up side seams using a serger or zig zag stitch,
- and hemming bottom and sleeves using a zig zag stitch, double needle, or coverstitch.
To jazz mine up, I was inspired by a project I saw in Making an Impression by Gennine Zlatkis.
I created a heart silhouette from freezer paper, ironed it on, then used various stamps to fill in the space. I started with the larger stamps and then filled in the empty spaces with my tiniest stamps. Instead of paint, I printed with discharge paste (which I’m with you–needs another name), because I love that the color is bleached out and thus is completely permanent and won’t ever fade. For lots of info on carving stamps and hand printing, see here here or here.
Thanks so much for having me Delia, and I hope your and yours have as much rocking this swing tee as my little Tiny!
Oh and head over to Kojodesigns for more green goodness. If you like green smoothies I think you like this summer treat…
This is adorable! I love the shape of it and that is so clever to use stamps for the center design!! I don't have enough knit to pull one off, wonder if I could make something similar with non-knits? Thanks for all of the "drafting your own pattern" how to's!!
:)
This is a super cute project. Love the tips on stamping a design too. I'll have to give this one a try. Thank you!
Erin, I think you could use a woven just fine, I would just give yourself a little more room to move. So increase armhole size, and chest width a bit, and I think you’d be golden!
This is so cute and I will definitely make some for my girls with my ubiquitous half-yard knit cuts – but I'm confused. Is it possible that b and c are transposed in your diagram? I think b is supposed to be the line for the chest and c is the sleeve hem?
wha? this is so cute and simple. can't wait to make a couple! (or ten)
mae