Scout Tee

The Grainline Party continues at my house. Next out is the Scout Tee. Designed for woven fabrics, the pattern describes the top as fitted at the shoulders, falling into a loose shape below the bust.

I'd say that's just how my version turned out.

I wear a lot of tee shirts. As a retiree living in easy, breezy Santa Cruz my style is way over to the casual side of the fashion spectrum. Mostly I wear knit tees, but it's nice to have a few woven options in the closet. Sometimes I want to avoid the cling factor that's usually part of a knit top, and when the weather is hot something loose on top is very nice indeed. Plus there are so many cute woven prints to play with.

I've used McCalls 8050 for a woven tee-style top, and Gertie's Portrait Blouse is another option to consider. Both have cut on sleeves though, and I was interested in trying something with set in sleeves.

McCall's 8050 - probably the oldest me-made item in my wardrobe

Gertie's Portrait Blouse - love that neckline

For this Scout I used a burn-out fabric that's probably some kind of cotton blend. I found it at Crossroads Fabrics in Watsonville. I have a nice piece left over, but I'm not too sure what to do with it. It was a bit of a pain to sew because my needle thunked every time I went from burn-out to solid and back again. I'll see how it holds up in wearing.

Rear view

 I made a size 6, which I think is about right for me. The shoulders look like I wouldn't want to go down a size, right? Speaking of shoulders, I put the sleeves in flat and tried to be as careful as I could, but I still got a bit of puckering. I have another Scout in the pipeline and I think I'll try to reduce a bit of the ease in the sleeve head for that one. I'm kind of excited to see if I can figure out how to do that. I've been pointed to a nice tutorial at Green Apples. Too bad the Stitchy Witch doesn't blog anymore. Hers was one of the first sewing blogs I stumbled over and I picked up a lot of great tips from her.

Side view

Here's a side view so you can see that the tee does, indeed, fall into a loose shape below the bust. I think you'd want to use a pretty light, drapey fabric so the top can move with you a bit. It feels very nice and floaty while wearing; just right for a hot summer day.

Tucked in view

When you want to look a little more button-down, it's also cute tucked in to a skirt or a pair of high-waisted trousers.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.