The Concord Tees - Hacked Edition

Honestly I've been meaning to get around to making more Concord Tees after I made my first one last spring. As with all good sewing intentions, it took awhile for me to get back to this.

I ended up making four hacked t-shirts. I pulled knits from the collection and started sewing. Well actually cutting first, the first ones were cut using the pattern I traced last spring. I really should have checked the fit before I cut them out...that's why I stopped at four.

Because of that these fit a little closer than I originally wanted. Probably because I've gained back 10 pounds. I will wear them, however it caused me to rethink what size to use for the next batch.

Let's start with these four... 
As usual I don't sew anything straight out of the pattern envelope. I mean I have a basic one and I know what the pattern can do so I decided to take it for a "hack" ride. I kinda feel like I could buy some standard loose-fitting tees but it's harder to purchase interesting tees in different fabrics that fit me.

Hacked Version #1 ~

This one is made from one of the organic cotton fabrics I bought from Organic Plus in late 2015. Instead of using the band for the neckline, I used a piece of 5/8" ruffled elastic from the collection. It was applied directly to the neckline to give it a frilly look. The sleeve band was also omitted. Instead I used a twin needle to hem the sleeve. I already own several white tees and wanted something a little different from the others.

Those are the only construction changes for this tee. However, by adding the ruffle elastic, it really drew the neckline in and gave it an elasticized look. At first I wasn't sure about this but the tee grew on me. It's worn with a new TNT rayon crepe skirt, exactly like these. I love this silhouette. It's going to be my go to outfit for summer!

A few pics...

Hacked Version #2 ~
I used a cotton/lycra blend from fabric.com for this version pulled from deep within the fabric collection. 

It came about because I saw a similar one on the street in NYC. A young lady was walking into Starbucks wearing a gray t-shirt with those bell sleeves. It reminded me of the sleeves from McCalls 7542. So I combined the Cashmerette Tee and the sleeves from View D to get this rendition.

Seriously it was as easy as that and I was thrilled with the final result. My only suggestion is that you make sure that you measure your sleeve opening and the opening of the ruffle to insure that they are the same diameter.

We photographed this with a flare denim skirt that I made last spring. I'm not quite sure I like these two pieces together. However, after taking pictures of six outfits that day, I was done with photographs. Of course, later on I found my grey sweatshirt looking TNT straight elastic waisted skirt (see the black one below). That's how I will most likely wear this tee!

Hacked Version #3 ~

This fabric is a 2 layer embroidered knit that was gifted to me about eight years ago by Karen Heenan, who blogs at By the Seat of my Pants. Y'all know I watch a little too much QVC and I saw a tee by Isaac Mizrahi that inspired this one. His version had a peplum on it but I wanted something a little looser, longer, and straighter. 

To get this look, I cut the top of the tee off at the waist curve. Then I added 17" of 54" wide fabric, gathered at the top and with a side seam. I matched the side seam and stitched down. It was only after it was hemmed that I realized it looked like a slimmer version of a Turner Dress hack.

Oh and the sleeves aren't hemmed...just serged. I haven't decided if I want them hemmed or not. Since they look okay in these pictures, I'll probably just leave them as is.

One more thing ~ because this is a gifted top, I thought I would wear a gifted piece of jewelry with it...so thanks Marcy for the bracelet! 

Pictures of the Top ~

Color Blocked Version ~
My last one is not a hack at all. I just color blocked it using a black 'n white herringbone knit & a black ponte. This is the only scoop neck version I made from this series of tees. Otherwise there is nothing special about it except for using two different fabrics.

I'm wearing this with my TNT black ponte straight skirt with an elastic waist. I've made quite a few of these skirts in several colors and fabrications. I really want a couple of made by me Tees to wear over them. Because believe it or not, I do have days when I don't want to wear a maxidress or maxi skirt.

This is the simpliest hack. It involves just pulling some fabric from your collection or scrap bin and having a go at it. I have a couple more fabric combinations in my head that I will eventually get to! Cause I had a ball sewing these up. 

Finally ~
I was really thrilled with how these turned out...so much so that I immediately traced off more pattern pieces and made dresses from the tee pattern which you saw in my previous post. I know there's been alot of interest in how I made the flutter/ruffled sleeve on the dress and the tee. So that's what's up next on the blog.

...as always more later!