Blog

Level of difficulty: Beginner

MATERIALS

Pattern Lark Tee by Grainline Studios

Fabric  Medium-weight cotton knit in Light Grey and Pepper by Robert Kaufmann

The Lark Tee shirt pattern is one of my most favorite. I especially appreciate the simplicity and versatility of this pattern which allows you to create 16 different styles by swapping in and out four possible sleeve lengths and collar styles. 

PREPARATION

• For this pattern you’ll need a serger or a basic sewing machine that sews zig zag
• Use good quality thread that has some stretch (e.g., polyester or silk covered cotton work well with knits)
• Select a light to medium weight sewing needle designed to work with knits. I used a size 11 ball point needle
• Use a 1/4" seam allowance
  
• Pick the size that corresponds to your body measurements. Cut the pattern to your size or trace it to another large piece of paper
• Pre-wash and shrink the fabric in hot water on a delicate cycle with mild detergent. Hang dry. To ensure a longer life, wash the finished shirts in lukewarm water on a delicate cycle with mild detergent and hang dry or use the delicate cycle on your clothes dryer at a low temperature.

HOW I MADE THESE SHIRTS

I cut the yardage fabric into two pieces –  a larger one for the body and smaller for the sleeves. For this demo I made two versions of the boat neck long-sleeved style - one in pepper and the other in light grey and have interspersed pictures from both projects.

Using a serger I attached the front and back of the shirt sections at the shoulders. (Keep the side seams open. If you are using a regular sewing machine, use a zig-zag stitch at the narrowest seam width to give a bit of stretch to the garment. Cotton knit edges do not fray so you do not need to finish the raw edges. But if you want to do this zig-zag or serge the edges of each piece before sewing the pattern pieces together.

I sewed each arm piece to the body at the shoulders with my serger. I use pins outside of the sewing range to keep the pieces in place while sewing, but some sewists skip the pins.

Here’s how my project looked after attaching the sleeves to the body.

In one continuous seam, I sewed together the front and back of the arms and the front and back pieces.

Then I serged the raw edges of the shirt's top and bottom, and bottom of the sleeves. To finish the top edge of the shirt's top I rolled over the serged edge and hemmed with a straight stitch on my regular sewing machine. I used the machine's blind hem stitch to hem the sleeves and shirt bottom.

Here is the finished shirt in pepper. Each of these shirts took me less than two hours to make.