My Colorful Shirts

Hello, dear friends,

everyone here is quietly knitting, crocheting, crafting, or sewing away. But a forum also thrives on showing off our creations. So today I’m showing you three shirts that I sewed for myself using a pattern on CP.

I’m still learning something new with every sewing project. That was the case here too.  These shirts have something very special for me, something new to me: a "neatness strip". It’s basically a narrow strip of fabric that covers the bothersome neck seam. If you don’t have a serger, you always have a seam edge at the back of the neck from sewing the neckband and shirt together. But my pieces don’t anymore! The neatness strip is now an absolute must for me on all tops.

Shirt No. 1 - A flower meadow to wear ...

The shirt is cut straight, or very slightly A-line, and is longer in the back than in the front. That’s fashionable right now, and if the fabric is soft enough, you can even tie it in a knot at the front.



And this is what the praised "neatness strip" looks like at the back of the neck (here, the light blue strip):



The second special feature of my new shirts is the sleeve cuffs. I especially like that they are "real cuffs" and not just folded-over dropped sleeves where you can still see the shoulder seam. When I was choosing, this one detail—the perfect sleeve cuffs—was the deciding factor in my purchase.



The floral shirt was my first attempt with this pattern. And because I liked it so much and it suits me, I sewed two more right away.

No. 2 - Neon colors

The colorful fabric already has a lot going on pattern-wise. That’s why I combined it with a solid neon green jersey fabric. This also makes the neckband and sleeve cuffs stand out more clearly.

Here, too, I tried something new: I glued the hem edge in place with a fabric glue stick before sewing. The fabric was so slippery and kept curling up. The glue residue washes out very easily with water. In the picture, though, you can see the edge before it has been finished.



Here, too, my new favorite, the neatness strip, came into play. This time in the same fabric as the back. On solid-colored pieces, it’s completely unobtrusive.



A close-up look at the sleeve cuffs again. You can see that where the front and back pieces are sewn together, the sleeve cuff has no seam because it was sewn on separately.



No. 3 - Colorful, yes colorful, are all my clothes ...

Well, another colorful shirt of this kind had to follow. This time accented with purple. Here I sewed a straight hem at the bottom for a change. Because the colors glow so beautifully, I went straight into the garden to take photos.



So, that’s it, my dears. I wore my new shirts for the first time at Easter and felt good in them. What more could you want? Shirt No. 2 is my current favorite :-)

Best wishes, Ina

WOW, Ina, these shirts have turned out to be real eye-catchers!!!!
Great job, and that *nerdy stripe* is really a nice touch—I sew it into some of my own pieces, too.

LG Inge

Wow, these shirts are absolutely gorgeous. The colors and patterns are amazing. Great job!!!

Very, very nice!

They look great, Ina! 👍 The first one is my favorite.😍

Beautiful—every single shirt is an eye-catcher.
It’s really making me itch to dust off the sewing machine again.
Best regards, Ines 

The first shirt is amazing. The colors, the pattern, the cut! Simply enchanting. I picture it with white jeans, and the summer outfit couldn’t be better.
The beautiful fabrics you choose are truly your trademark!!
Love, Petra

Beautiful shirts.
I really like all three of them.
👍
Best regards, Marita 

Dear Ina, I’m totally in love with your shirts, especially the first and last ones—but the second one, too. Thanks for the great tips and for sharing. I’ll definitely incorporate the “neck seam tape” into my projects too. What’s the name of that material? Is it similar to hem tape?

I’m currently working on my second skirt and will share both of them on the forum once they’re done. Two dresses are also in the works for my two granddaughters. Oh, it’s just so nice to be sewing again. I didn’t even realize until now what I’d been missing. Thanks to you, I’ve rediscovered it. I have to say, though, that I’ve spent quite a bit more on fabric and supplies in the last month than I did on yarn all year. Oh oh… but it will all be used up and it’s fun. I’m especially happy that the results are visible so quickly.

Best regards, Monika

Thank you for your compliments—I really appreciate them.

Yes, I love colors and patterns—and fabric is a great way to express that. Yarn is simply something else. These fabrics offer me so many more possibilities.

Dear Monika, since you’ve just started sewing again, it makes sense that you’ll need fabrics to work with first. I also got my first test fabrics from our swap group. Later on, you’ll become more selective in your choices.

“Back neck binding strips” aren’t an extra material you can buy like hem tape. It’s simply a piece of soft jersey fabric that you sew in at that spot. I’ll be posting another blog entry on the topic this month. In it, I’ll explain it in great detail. I’m so excited about this that I’d love to share this tip with you.

Best regards, Ina

Thanks, Ina—I’m really curious to see how you’ll do that. I can’t even picture it right now. The fabric would have to be very straight along the edges.

Monika, to get very straight edges with jersey fabric, a rotary cutter is a huge help, because it gives you perfectly straight edges, and if you need to go around a curve, a curved ruler is very useful.
You can get these rulers for rotary cutters at any good specialist shop for sewing supplies.

Best regards, Inge

Thanks, Inge, that’s good to know. I still have a lot to learn in that area.