Hey curvy sewists!
I’m here today with a review of one of our recent “favorite curvy patterns” winners, the Hot Patterns Fast & Fabulous Shirt-Tail Ts! Although it’s obviously a crowd favorite so I am clearly preaching to the choir, I noticed that we didn’t have a review up on the CSC nor are there many versions in the CSC Flickr Group. Plus, I used one of the Hot Patterns’ relatively new PDF/downloadable patterns, so I thought I’d review that aspect of it for those who are curious.
Here we go!
Pattern name: Hot Patterns Fast & Fabulous Shirt-Tail T’s (HP 1189)
Pattern description: “Loose-fit, pull-on T’s have a slouchy-shapely silhouette, with a ‘U’ neckline, a shaped center back seam, cut-on cap sleeves, and a shirt-tail hem. The neckline is finished with self fabric binding; sleeves are finished with a turn-back cuff. Choose between a solid or pieced front (great for stripes!), or add some ultra-pretty ruffles. These fluid T’s work brilliantly worn loose or semi-tucked with cropped jeans or pants, or try them belted over a swooshy ‘A’ line maxi skirt.”
Size range: 6-26 (bust 32-52″, waist 24-44″, hip 34-54″)
What size did you make? 14, one size down from what my measurements indicated I should make, purely based on what I’d read about the pattern on the internet. Folks said it ran large, and although I wanted to stay true to the slouchy style, I didn’t want to be swimming in it.
What are your measurements, height, and body type? 42-35-45, pearish
What fabric did you use? My fabric is a medium weight cotton jersey that I bought here in Bangkok. I used it previously for a Strathcona t-shirt for my husband and still had plenty left over since I bought a kilo of it here in Bangkok, where buying by the kilo is cheaper than by the meter! I’d say you don’t need to worry to much about stretch percentage for this pattern since it’s a loose fit with positive ease all over.
What adjustments did you make and how long did they take?
No adjustments besides going down a size, just switched around construction a bit.
What was the construction process like? Did the instructions make sense to you?
I think the instructions were fine: not super detailed, but they’ll get you there! I could have used a few more pattern markings, though, particularly on the pieced front, just to make sure I had things lined up correctly.
For the neck, the instructions have you apply the neck binding before closing up the back seam, but I don’t like the unfinished result at the back neck, so I chose to use this Megan Nielsen binding method: sewing the back and shoulder seams up, sewing binding in a loop, sewing it to the wrong side of the neck hole, then wrapping it around the seam allowance and top stitching.
I also sewed the side seams before hemming, although the instructions recommended the opposite. My hem ended up a bit wonky… I’m curious to try it the way the instructions suggest. But I have a feeling that won’t make a difference- curved hems are tough with knits!
How do you like the pattern’s fit? Do you think the design works well for your particular body shape?
Yes! I really like the shape of the tee! Even though it’s a boxy design, there is enough shaping on the side and back seams to keep it shapely and cool looking…
There is a curved center back seam with what seems to be shaping to deal with swayback, which is nice… in retrospect, though, I should have cut one of the back pieces with the stripes going vertically to avoid having to stripe match across that seam (although I’m pretty chuffed with the job I did!):
Will you make the pattern again? If so, what fit or design changes will you make?
I will definitely make this pattern again! I may try the solid front version and certainly another striped one. Ruffles are not my thing, so I likely won’t go that route, but the ruffled version is pretty cute if you’re into that sort of thing! By the way, they’re called ruffles on the pattern, but the pattern pieces are not gathered rectangles, but rather more circular flounces.
Like I said, I may try actually following the instructions to hem before sewing the side seams. I am slightly concerned that the cuffed sleeves won’t stay cuffed with washing (although they stayed cuffed while wearing it). Perhaps next time I’ll narrow the piece and treat it like a band rather than a cuff. Otherwise, it’s pretty great as is!
Do you have any advice on this pattern for other curvy sewers? Are there any resources (blog posts, fitting books, tutorials) that helped you sew this piece up?
Take a look at the Hot Patterns Shirt-Tail T “Show and Tell” video if you’re planning on making the striped version. It’s a bit long (10 minutes!!), but there are some essential hints about cutting out the stripes at about minute 7:20. She suggests cutting the upper front piece along the edge of the “dominant” colored stripe, which I think is good advice. I wish I’d done the same for the small triangle piece under the left arm, too. Keep in mind your seam allowance, though! I ended up cutting 3/8″ away from the black stripe and then using the stripe itself as the sewing guide just to make sure it looked really straight on the front side.
How was working with Hot Patterns’ PDF print-at-home pattern?
This was my first Hot Patterns pattern and my first time using their (relatively) new PDF patterns. Their PDFs are a bit different than some of the others on the market, in a good way, I think, but it took some getting used to. First, you have to pick your paper size before buying (A4 or 8.5 x 11″/letter). Then, when you print, rather than cutting the edges off the paper (a tedious task, at best), the pattern goes right up to the edge of the paper. You just have to abut the edges and tape!
Seems pretty awesome, huh? Paper saving, no extra cutting. The only problem, though, is that, apparently some printers don’t recognize or can’t “see” the edge of the pattern, so they cut off a bit of the printing on all of the edges. This happened to me and I got a bit worried. Hot Patterns has a video explaining that it’s fine and you can go ahead and tape it up even though the pattern lines might not meet at the edges, but it’s still slightly disconcerting! You can see in the photo below how the lines don’t meet up at the edges of the paper and some of the printing ends up cut off:
Pattern Rating:(1 is the lowest score, 5 the highest)
Size Range: 5, a pretty wide size range!
Instructions: 4, there could be a bit more detail in the instructions, but they’ll get you there.
Construction Process: 3.5, I don’t love how you would end up with sort of exposed seam ends at the neckline and hems if you followed the instructions.
Final Fit: 5, love the fit!
Overall Rating: 4.5, although I found some of the construction a little bit strange, I love the final shirt. The perfect slouchy (but not too slouchy) cool t-shirt with interesting details!
Some bonus “in the wild” shots of me wearing my tee while on vacation in Victoria, Australia over the holidays. After wearing the tee a few times on the trip, I am itching to make another right away! Excited to try some of the other curvy-approved Hot Patterns, like the Blouse-Back T, too!
Silly question…..why is there a seam up the back? What purpose does it serve?? Just curious. This t is now on my list of things to make. For a similar skirt, check out soseweasy.com, Moved to tiers skirt. Awesome!
LOVE this, it is so flattering on you!
This looks awesome Meg! Thanks for the review!
Thanks, Heather!!
Love the way it looks with a wider stripe. Also, thanks for the link to the Megan Nielson binding method. I’m going to have to try that one of these days.
Thanks, Donna! The binding method is pretty great- a good tutorial!
Thanks for such a helpful review! I love your version.
Thanks, L’Anne! Glad it was helpful!
I took this picture last spring. It was in one of the malls. I liked it. The stripes are oriented differently than the pattern. But I kind of think it could be cool.
Cool! very similar!
I was thinking. No matching the stripes on the side seam this way!
What a great review – thank you! I’ll definitely be giving this one a try! Your stripe version is splendid.
Thanks, Hannah! Glad the review was helpful!
I’m going to have to add this pattern to my list of things to make when it warms up again. I love the version you’ve made here, and the way you’ve styled it is giving me major outfit envy. 🙂
Thanks, Anna! The jeans I’m wearing it with are my recently-made Birkin Flares. I wanted to model it with some skinny jeans I made, but right before snapping the photo I managed to yank the zipper pull off of the fly…. nooooooooo!
http://cookinandcraftin.blogspot.com/2015/12/testing-testing-birkin-flares.html
Meg, I love this shirt so much! It looks super chic, but really comfortable. I’m going to shamelessly track down some identically striped fabric now…
Thanks, Mary! It is super comfy, but I think the criss-crossing stripes give it a litle somethin’somethin’. Ha ha, I wish you luck on your search for identical stripes- if you can’t find any in TX, I can send you part of my kilo of stripes- turns out a kilo of fabric is a lot.
Nice shirt, looks great on you too! Give the HP Blouse-back Tee a try….I love that pattern as you can see in my blog post: http://sewmuchknitting.blogspot.com/2015/04/hotpatterns-1170-blouse-back-t.html. I wear this one a lot!
Thanks, Patty! Oooh- your blouse-back tee is great! I am definitely bumping that pattern towards the top of my sewing queue!
I love this T – especially in the stripes which shows off the directional lines of the pattern pieces. Great job! You should be chufffed re that matching up of the stripes on the back seam – I couldn’t tell at all that there is even a seam there! THank you for that suggestion re the neck binding. I will definitely try that and look at that pattern for a summer T (I’m in Victoria BC so it’s a little chilly for T shirts just yet) 🙂
Thanks, Kathleen! Yeah, I could see how it might be a bit cold for t-shirts in Victoria, BC right now 😉
I think this is a very cute shirt and one I will try this spring! I have a shirt similar to this with the cuffed sleeve (that I bought) and it has a tiny stitch at the top of the cuff (directly down from the shoulder seam) that keeps the cuff in place even through washing. Thank you for sharing and for telling us what to look out for when making this!
Thanks, Patti! I did tack the sleeve cuff down at the shoulder and underarm seams… I just have a feeling it may roll out. So far, so good on this particular tee, but something to look out for, particularly in a lighter weight or slinkier knit!
Very nice. Good review, you mentioned everything, the good with the bad. I have made this T, in a solid, and embroidered it. A few alterations for my body, as I am an apple, but love the T!
Oooh- an embroidered version sounds lovely! What adjustments did you make, out of curiosity? And what part did you embroider?
I embroidered The word “PARIS” in a curvy script, just under the diagonal seam, in white, on the small panel to the side. I make most of my clothes in black, and embellish.
Fun!
I have made this once. I am going to try again in a stripe, if I can find one I like. It seems they are harder to find than I would like. I too sized down one size with good luck. I too will not use the neckline finish again. I will lengthen the top for myself next time. I found it a bit short for me.
Now for those of you who are addicted to buying those interesting knit digital prints with cool scenes printed on them, and then can’t figure out just how to use them. This is the shirt! Most of the panel prints can be cut out of the plain top with ease. Then, if you only bought 1 panel, use a different fabric for the back and sleeve cuff. It is a really cool look.
Good idea, Elaine- this tee would be cool in a larger print! You should try it in a stripe if you can find the right one- I think it’s a very striking look (and easy to achieve!).
I like the difference in the small triangle, I think it adds interest 🙂
Ha ha, ok, glad it’s not a glaring error. It only occurred to me after the fact that maybe I should have used the dominant stripe as the guide for all pieces, but I wasn’t too upset by the final product- I love it!
It’s not an error at all! I think if you *had* cut with the dominant/black stripe as your guide, you might have ended up with a big black triangle splodge right in the middle of your sternum. Hahaha. Your tee looks great! I like HPs a lot but for some reason have avoided most of the more basic tees. IDK why except maybe because I have a TNT basic tee. I really should get over myself and put some of those stashed stripes to use with this pattern. Thanks for the review!
So true, Debbie! Nobody wants triangle splodges 😉
The black/gray striped T shirt is a winner on you. Looks fresh and lively. As always the comments about the project are very helpful for other sewists, using this particular pattern or using other patterns. Thanks. Now I’m ready to try doing stripes every which way — much better than just horiz. or vert.
Thanks so much, Susan! Glad the review was helpful! Yes! Stripe experimentation for everyone!
Love the shirt. Very stylish. Thanks for the thorough review! 🙂
Thanks, Andie!! Hope the review is helpful!!