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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Thrifty Thursday/Tites Mains Japanese Inspired Twisted T-Shirt

Yep, it's Saturday, and yep, I'm behind, but I wanted to share a new pattern that's super easy to make and lots of fun to wear.
A while back, I introduced you to Tites Mains, a talented young woman who lives in France. She posted a brand new pattern this week. I love asymmetrical tops that drape, so I decided to download the free pattern and give it a try.
Here's a picture of her in her top. 
Other than the fact that I like draped, asymmetrical tops, I also liked the fact that it was designed to be made out of a woven fabric. The top goes together in a snap as there are only 3 seams. 
Below is the taped together PDF pattern. 
I made a couple of changes to the pattern. If you'll notice, there's a V-neck, I rounded mine,
Also notice that there is a point at the top of the pattern. You can see a line running from the point to the hem. This is a fold line and becomes the side of the top once the piece is folded. 
The point will be under the arm once the arm has been put through the opening that will basically be the sleeve. The problem with the point is that it is difficult to turn and finish. 
I simply folded the fabric in half on the fold line and then trimmed the point away. Now the edge will be easy to finish. 
Here's the top folded on the fold line prior to be sewn together. You can see that there is only 1 side seam and 2 shoulder seams. One side has more of a traditional sleeve and the other side has notches that indicate where the stitching should stop for the arm opening.  
Since the pattern was designed for a woven fabric, I decided to use a suede cloth. I wish there was touch-o-vision as this is the most wonderful to touch fabric. It can be steamed, but not pressed, so I topstitched the seams in place.  
The shoulder seam was topstitched and then I ran the stitching into the and around the armhole opening. 
 My finished top.
The back.
Rather than turn and stitch the neckline as she suggested, I did a bias binding. I think it makes a nicer finish.
And because we all like to look on the inside :)
The pattern is labeled as a medium to large. I feel that it is more of a small to medium. If you make it out of a knit fabric, then it could fit a large. So PLEASE measure the pattern prior to cutting to determine if the pattern as it is will fit you.
You can find the pattern for free HERE on the Craftsy website. I will be making more as it's super easy to make and easy to wear. 
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24 comments:

  1. donnaFebruary 20, 2016 at 10:45 AM

    Wow! Yours looks great! And a free pattern, too. Nice.

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  2. Remembering..OZFebruary 20, 2016 at 12:51 PM

    So cute, and free! Just downloaded...and have the perfect material in mind. Thank you!

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  3. UnknownFebruary 20, 2016 at 1:15 PM

    WOW love the color and suede fabric very pretty thanks for sharing

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  4. Linda TFebruary 20, 2016 at 3:02 PM

    Such a cute top. I'll put this one of my list of "many to do." ;)

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  5. MarysiaFebruary 20, 2016 at 5:38 PM

    Thanks for posting about this great pattern. Its been a while since I checked into Craftsy. Without you Rhonda, I would have missed this.

    Great top for the spring/summer.
    Love the way you have made it your own. Looks terrific. Please may we see you modelling your finished top.

    Kindest regards,
    Marysia.

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  6. GingerFebruary 20, 2016 at 9:49 PM

    Cute top! Thanks for sharing

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  7. Mother of ReinventionFebruary 21, 2016 at 5:47 AM

    This is absolutely lovely. I think that you fabric looks amazing. such a lovely colour, drape and texture. What a fabulous pattern find. Thanks for sharing it. Xx

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  8. GerryARTFebruary 21, 2016 at 9:01 AM

    First time reading your blog
    Wow, just in time to start my day with motivation to sew a top!
    Will download the pattern and see where it takes me.
    Thanks
    and I'll be back
    Gerry

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aisha Johnson - SewCoutureFebruary 21, 2016 at 11:22 AM

    This is a fantastic top, Rhonda...the color and texture looks so luscious and I absolutely love, love, LOVE the drape!

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  10. Calico StretchFebruary 22, 2016 at 2:45 AM

    Ooo thank you for the link and the details. I love the idea of the suede - lovely lovely to wear.

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  11. ShayFebruary 23, 2016 at 8:46 PM

    This pattern has been on Pinterest for some time. It appears to be from a Japanese pattern book.

    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393150242442048093/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rhonda BussFebruary 24, 2016 at 6:16 AM

    Thanks for the link. A friend had sent me a message and told me that the top was right out of the book. I didn't have the book to see for myself, so I ordered the book. At this point, what's done is done. I plan to do a post on the book once I receive it and give credit where it's due. Thanks again.

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    Replies
    1. JuliaMarch 1, 2016 at 11:29 AM

      Hello (TitesMains again), I don't have the book but I did see the Pinterest image before creating mine as I was doing research for that; however I developed it from my kimono top sloper. Would hate being considered a plagiarist and would never just copy something and put my name on it.

      Delete
  13. ShayFebruary 25, 2016 at 1:18 AM

    I'm sorry!

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    Replies
    1. Rhonda BussFebruary 25, 2016 at 7:08 AM

      No need for an apology. I really appreciated the link. Thanks so much!!

      Delete
  14. Jennifer in KansasFebruary 25, 2016 at 8:48 PM

    I cannot figure out how the tiles go together. 4 across? It seemed right in the first row but not later rows. Can you help?

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    Replies
    1. Rhonda BussFebruary 26, 2016 at 6:13 AM

      Hi Jennifer, not each row has the same amount of tiles. I'm trying to remember, but if I remember correctly, there is a notch that matches 1 tile to the next. The last page in a row will not have a notch on the right side of the tile. There will be a notch on the left side, but not the right. My apologies. I should have mentioned in the text that not all tile rows are even. I usually take a picture of my taped together pattern before I cut it out. Completely forgot this time. Hope this helps.

      Delete
    2. JuliaMarch 1, 2016 at 11:25 AM

      Hi Jennifer, Julia from TitesMains here. Normally you'll find a "diamond" notch in each tile that helps taping them together. When there's no notch, there's no more tiles in that row. I'll make a screen capture of the tiled pattern and add it to the Craftsy page when I get home. Thanks for the input!

      Delete
    3. JuliaMarch 1, 2016 at 1:07 PM

      I just added the tiled pattern inage to Craftsy, and here's the direct link to it: http://cdn.craftsy.com/upload/1494042/pattern/192008/full_6405_192008_Japaneseinspiredtwistedtshirt_5.png

      Delete
    4. Jennifer in KansasApril 16, 2016 at 3:43 PM

      Sorry for not replying earlier. I did figure it out. I'm just so accustomed to .pdf patterns being tiled equally that it didn't occur to me. Sitting down right now to make a quick top. Using some faux-suede material, too, Rhonda! I'm anxious to see the result. thanks for the tips on binding the neck and topstitching the seams!
      Jennifer in Kansas

      Delete
  15. JuliaMarch 1, 2016 at 11:23 AM

    Oh my god, I am so happy you tried it! Thanks for the review :D You are right about the sizing, I'll correct it in the Craftsy descriptions (was supposed to say S-M but I guess my brain went TILT).

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    Replies
    1. Rainbows in WoolMay 23, 2016 at 1:55 PM

      well the one i downloaded today says M-L, so what size is it?

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    2. Rhonda BussMay 23, 2016 at 2:03 PM

      There is only one size, so it's a small/medium not a medium/large.

      Delete
  16. JuliaMarch 1, 2016 at 1:01 PM

    I'd like to address (if Rhonda'll let me) the comments suggesting that this pattern comes from a Japanese book. First, I do not own a book with a similar pattern. I saw the pin related to it on Pinterest as anyone else, but I also saw a lot of other draped tops with similar inspiration (even on BurdaStyle). There's a lot of those examples on my own Pinterest boards, since I have been obsessed with "simple" pattern manipulation for some time.

    However, most of those other examples are patterns for stretch fabric. I don't know what the fabric recommendation is in the Japanese book since, again, I don't own a copy, just saw the Pinterest image with no measurements and no discernible fabric recommendation (I don't read Japanese). My pattern is for woven fabric.

    If you've read the article, I let it clear it has been inspired by such designs (I love the "Pattern Magic" series and have written a lot about it), but mostly by the "Great British Sewing Bee" final. In that episode, they make the Japanese top I already knew from my collection of pins, but with a twist (ha!): the top was sewn in fine woven fabric, not stretch. That changed completely my outlook on this pattern - I have lots of nice woven fabric but it's a pain to find nice stretch fabric in France.

    So, I started working on a pattern from my own measurements (based mostly on the kimono top sloper I made from W. Aldrich's instructions) and, of course, based on the pattern shown on the show and the knowledge I had collected from internet - including the infamous Pinterest pin in Japanese. The curves were freely drawn and exaggerated to flatter my hourglass shape (looking at the book image, it looks flat on the sides). I also chose a neckline that I know is flattering for me (my top has a rounded neckline because the fabric was so fine I couldn't make the "V" sit right).

    Thanks to Rhonda for testing my pattern and sorry about the wall of text. Don't hesitate to contact me if there are questions about it or about any of my creations. I would not sign my name in something I did not create.

    Julia (TitesMains)

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