Dandelion Tee #5

I can’t stop making this pattern. Such is the curse of versatility.

Dandelion Tee #5 features a coral open sweater knit for the sleeves, sea white pucker knit for the bodice, single snug turtleneck, and hemmed shirt length.

I also realized why the turtleneck on #4 was so gappy. I used the regular neckline when I should have used the high neckline. As you can see on #5, it turns out much better when you do it right.

I sewed this version in just under 3 hours, which was a bit shocking to me. I deviated a bit from the instructions so I wouldn’t be switching threads/stitches so much, and I was amazed at how much time it saved. I hemmed the shirt after sewing the shoulder and side seams. Then I moved on to the sleeves and hemmed those after sewing the side seams. All that was left after that was attaching the sleeves and the turtleneck, and done.

You might think that coral fabric would be difficult to work with since it’s such a loose weave, and also stretches in both directions. I was surprised how well it behaved though. I did use stabilizer on the sleeve side seams though, which I’m sure was a wise move since it keeps the open weave from getting sucked down into the throat plate, and also keeps the seam nice and steady. Even running a zig-zag stitch over the raw edge of the sleeve hems was much easier than I expected.

I wish I would’ve added an inch or two to the sleeves. I thought I’d already done that on my pattern piece, but I guess this fabric is just behaving differently (or my arms are growing, which would be weird and mildly concerning.)