« Ultrasuede flower | Main | silkscreen labels »
July 02, 2004
T-shirt reconstruction gone wrong
Have you seen all the t-shirts at the mall with the ribbons on the neck? They're usually off to the side a bit, tied in a big bow with trailing ribbon. Some of them are threaded through the neck in a kind of gather, but most of them are just sewed into the neck and serve no structural purpose. I saw one I liked for some rediculous price and decided to try to make one. I literally went to 5 craft stores looking for the right color and size satin ribbon. I finally found it at a truly dumpy craft store called the Rag Shop. I should've known better. Even though it claims to be satin ribbon, with fabric content and all, it feels almost like that icky papery fake satin ribbon generally found on flower arrangements. Stupid me decided to try it anyway, though. First, I cut a slit in the neck of the shirt. I cut two lengths of ribbon and folded the raw edges back. Then I stitched a piece to each edge of the slit in the shirt. So far so good. It looks terrible, though. The main problem is the ribbon is too stiff. Instead of a cute, nonchalant, floppy bow, it's a pert, obnoxious bow. So I ripped it out and sewed the edges of the slit back together again. If you look at it, you can tell that it doesn't lay completely flat because of the new seam, but it's OK. I'll just cover it up with my flower pin. Maybe I'll try it again if I find The Perfect Ribbon.Posted under Sewing/Fabric Crafts at July 2, 2004 01:47 AM