My Milly-Molly-Mandy top

I am so pleased that I bought plenty of this Milly-Molly-Mandy striped jersey at Fabrics Galore on Monday.  I am quite happy to have several things made from it in my wardrobe.

 Yesterday I made this long sleeved t-shirt, using the Ottobre Creative Workshop 303 pattern (which you can buy direct from Ottobre here).  This is a pattern for nine different versions of a basic women's t-shirts in UK sizes 8 to 26.  It has a wealth of information about sewing with knits and adjusting sizes.  I love its simplicity and usefulness - I just know I will be making tops from this pattern for years to come.

The pattern makes a close fitting t-shirt, perfect for layering or wearing under a cardigan, and mine turned out pretty much how I wanted.  I added 2cm onto the length as I know I have a long body, and many t-shirts I buy come up too short - and I'm pleased with how that turned out.

I didn't add anything to the sleeve length, but next time I would add 2cm there as well.  The sleeves are fine if I keep my arms down, as in the photo below, but if I am waving them around the sleeves creep up a tiny bit, and I'd like them just a touch longer.

The neckline was the fiddliest part of construction.  Purely because the fabric is rather slippery and I didn't pin it adequately.  It is bound - just like a quilt - and I like the way I got the stripes on the binding going the other way to the stripes on the top (purely accidental - I have a feeling if I tried to, I wouldn't be able to do it like this again next time!).  The binding gives a very neat, flat finish to the neckline.

The Ottobre pattern gives a few different suggestions for hemming, but I didn't follow any of them in the end.  Instead I followed the Oliver + S instructions (which you can get here) for making a lettuce hem on a regular sewing machine (no serger required). 

The hems (on the cuffs and the bottom) have ended up being my favourite part of the whole top.  I adore the simple, ruffled effect that you end up with.  And as I always sew hems on skirts and shirts by hand, to make them properly invisible, I love the speed of hemming on the machine!

Both the Ottobre pattern and the Oliver + S website are reassuringly adamant that you can make beautiful jersey clothes on a regular sewing machine, and I would wholeheartedly agree with this.  I'm sure if I had a serger I would use it and love it, but I don't feel any need to get one at all - my Janome machine does everything I need.

I have learnt a few jersey-sewing tips over the past few days, however:

• Do use a ballpoint needle. A regular needle just chewed up the fabric.
• Buy LOADS of reels of thread for your project, and wind several bobbins before you start.  The stitches you need to sew jersey fabrics are all very heavy on thread.
• You really need to pin before you stitch.  I very rarely pin when I sew - preferring to carefully hold the fabric together - but jersey slips about too much for me to be this cavalier with it!
• Don't be afraid of jersey fabrics - just have a go.  Now I'm wearing my top, I can't believe I've been dithering for so long.

I'm moving onto babycord today - there are two Clothkits skirts (one for me, and one for O) cut out and ready to sew - but I'll be back onto the jersey tomorrow, and am hoping to have several more t-shirts in my wardrobe by the end of the week.