The Resurrection of a Fabulous Free Pattern Friday Design

How can it be that 5 years have passed so quickly?!! 

If you are fairly new to the blog, you may not know that I did a post on Friday's that I called, Fabulous Free Pattern Fridays. There were no printed patterns, just instructions on how to create garments from simple shapes; rectangles, squares, circles, and from time to time, a triangle thrown in for good measure. If you would like to see some of the garments that I created, you can find many of them HERE on Pinterest. 

I was recently with a friend who wanted to create 1 of the designs that I had done, the T-shirt Shawl. 

This top is still in my wardrobe and I love it. So very easy to make, just begin with a favorite t-shirt pattern. You can find the instructions HERE. 

I had wanted to create a dress version of this top, but.....never got around to it :/ When my friend asked for help to create the top, I thought, now's the time! 

The dress was made with a border print fabric. I so love how it turned out. I have worn it now on 3 different occasions.  

In the picture below, you can see that I basically stitched an outline of my body to secure the side. With the top version, I only did a small 3" stitching line at the waist to secure the top so that it would not open for the world to see what I may or may not be wearing underneath ;)  

If by chance you would like more detailed instructions of how to create this piece, let me know. I'm thinking about resurrecting the Fabulous Free Pattern Friday posts. I really loved doing them. After all, fabulous clothes don't need to be difficult to make :)

  Rhonda

The T-Shirt Shawl Pictures

Thanks for all the lovely compliments on the top that I posted yesterday for Fabulous Free Pattern Friday.

Quite a few of you asked to see pictures of me in the top, so I ran down to the fitness center this morning and took a few pictures. It was a toss up between crummy selfy pictures in my room, or crummy selfy pictures in the fitness center. The fitness center won! The pictures are not that great, but at least you can get an idea of how it looks on the body.

You may remember this sleeve that I posted for Sleeves On Saturdays a while back.

I wore the top on Thursday. While shopping, I decided to make use of a large mirror and take a few pictures.

 It has become one of my favorite tops to wear.

So that's it for my crummy picture review ;)
Hope you've had a great day.
Rhonda

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

Good Morning and Happy Friday!!!

As I shared a few days ago, I am enjoying a few days of relaxation. But before I left, I put this top together for today's post. I wore the top on Wednesday to a concert and luncheon and everyone went crazy over it. I was especially pleased with how it turned out. It's just a t-shirt pattern with a rectangular extension. SUPER easy!!! Sadly, I did not get any pictures of me in the top, but I think you will be able to get an idea of how the top is made.

The T-Shirt Shawl

Above you see that only one side has a sleeve. Below you see the rectangle extension on the other side. Hmmm, I should have pressed the hem before I took the picture, opps!!!
To hold the top in place on the body, I stitched a vertical line about 3" long at the waistline on the extension side.
 The extension is open from the shoulder to the hem.

To do top, use a basic top pattern that you like and that fits well. Cut out the armhole and side seam on one side and the entire neckline. On the opposite side at the shoulder, draw a straight line out from the neckline. The length should be your measurement from your neckline to your wrist. Square the line down to the hem. And that's it! As I said, it's super easy and it looks super great!!!
This is also a great idea for border prints. I used the border print across the body and then to continue the pattern, I used it on the sleeve as well.
Be sure to let me know if you give this a try. I think you are going to love it if you do!!!