Burdastyle Twisted Tee

I've noticed my eye being drawn to twisted tees lately. I made this one back in February of 2018. It's a french terry; warm enough that I didn't wear it much during the summer and fall, but I did wear it on our recent trip to Tahoe and was reminded how much I like it.

Here's this year's twisted tee:

This year's twisted tee, BS 01-2019-113

And here's last year's twisted tee:

Last year's twisted tee, BS 02-2018-107

So, why not just make up last year's pattern again? Well, here's the line drawing:

BS 02-2018-107

The cut of the neckline is a bit...extreme. It drapes nicely enough when I'm wearing it, but it doesn't fit like a normal tee-shirt neck, that's for sure. It's hard to really see this from the line drawing, but there are only two pattern pieces here; a front and a back. The sleeves are cut on and that left sleeve wraps up around from the back pattern piece. It was confusing as heck to sew together, and it was no fun to cut out either. The cutting layout used even more fabric than I imagined it would.

In contrast, here's 01-2019-113:

BS 01-2019-113

The neckline is more like your garden-variety tee, and the sleeves have their own pattern piece. Hey-hey, I thought. Should be easier to put together, and take less fabric to boot. Like a regular tee, but with that je ne sais qui that explains why I need yet another knit top in my shirt drawer.

When I got it done and tried it on, I wasn't best pleased with it. The reason should have been apparent from the magazine photos, and probably also from the line drawing. With this tee, the folds drooped down around my hips instead of defining my (admittedly imaginary) waist.

When I laid last year's tee over this year's tee, the curve on the left sides was pretty much the same, but the curve on the right side, which creates those drapey folds, was much shallower.

Last year's tee is on top, showing the more extreme shape.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? So I pinned the curvier seam onto this year's tee and re-sewed that side.

I had to fudge the underarm area, because the sleeves are a different cut. I think it pretty much worked though. I also shortened about three inches at the hem. I like the fit a lot more now. In fact, I like it enough that I think I'll use this pattern again.

I tried to transfer the changes back to the pattern. We'll see how well that works out for me.

Side view

I used a Laguna jersey for this version. I have a hunk of navy and white knit in an abstract floral print that's been lurking in the fabric closet. I think I'll cut into that for my next try.

back view

I think I'll try a sleeveless version with that fabric. Well, "sleeveless" will look more like short sleeved, since the shoulders are so dropped. It might make a cute summer top.

I think I'll also try to corral that bateau neckline. It's wide enough that it wants to slip down off my left shoulder. Which would have been cute 40 years ago, but not so much now. The fact that it's my left shoulder that gets exposed probably says I could fiddle with the shaping at that right underarm. Maybe I'll throw this top onto Mini Me and see if I can drape it into submission.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.