This week’s Project Run & Play Challenge is Polka Dots and Stripes. (Have you sewn anything? You should give it a try!) Sunday was my Jamie’s sixth birthday, and he wanted to go bowling. I knew that I wanted to sew a shirt for him, since his birthday is this week, but the idea for a bowling shirt didn’t actually come to me until Sunday morning! Am I the only one who occasionally overlooks the totally obvious?
I printed a new copy of the pdf version of my Everyday Camp Shirt pattern and started drawing lines and chopping it apart where I knew I wanted the color-blocking on the front and the back. Color-blocking is really simple to add to any pattern. Just draw lines where you want your new fabric to begin and end, then add lines on either side for seam allowance. I use 1/2″ seam allowance, and then I just fold the pattern to get the right portion of it when I’m tracing on to the fabric. You could also print two copies of the pattern, though, and actually cut out the separate pieces of the pattern before tracing. Does that make sense? (Maybe I need to do a tutorial with pictures. It’s such a great way to take a pattern that you already love and give it a new look.)
I sort of wish that I’d made the stripe on the sides of the front a little wider. It’s easy to see in real life when Jamie moves around, but it was really hard to get in pictures. This picture does show it well, though!
In addition to the color-blocking on the front, I added a yoke on the back and simply turned the fabric on the bias. When you’re working with stripes, that’s an easy way to add some interest without using a second fabric. I also cut the pocket on the bias and added a strip of the polka dots as trim on the top.
I promise he does smile. He was so excited to go bowling! He just isn’t interested in smiling for the camera lately. Too much pattern cover photography, maybe? Poor kid.
I did the raw-edge applique on the back of the shirt using the method that I explained in my Christmas Tee in a Twinkling Tutorial in November. In case you’d like to make your own Everyday-Camp-Shirt-turned-Bowling-Shirt, here’s a pdf of the applique pattern for you: Bowling Applique. Be sure to link to me if you use it. I’d love to see what you create!
