A How To - Plantain Tee with Yoke

Hey bloggy readers, I made a plantain....just like everybody else.

But wait, there's something a little different here...is that some sort of contrast yoke?

Why yes it is a yoke and I even got fancy and put some stretch mesh lacy fabric on it.

The old gray cells and I were trying to think up a way to jazz up this pattern a bit. It took a few weeks, but finally we and hit upon a way to use that stashed stretch mesh. Add yoke with overlay, sooooo easy. It really is easy and I've put a little tutorial in the pattern changes/alterations section.

Pattern
Deer & Doe Plantain (free pattern)

Fabrics used
Soy/cotton jersey and stretch mesh. I got the stretch mesh from Marcy Tilton some time ago.

It's a fabric that I'm not sure how to use most of the time. But come on, a cool feather design, I couldn't pass that up.  Marcy stocks a lot of stretch mesh if you're looking for that type of fabric for any reason.

Pattern changes/alterations
I traced a straight size 42 and only added about a 1/4" of extra ease at the hemline.  The real change made to the pattern was to add at yoke design.  It's a fairly easy to do and I'll show you how.

1. You'll need to grab the front and back pattern pieces of Plantain.  Make sure the seam allowance is drawn in on the shoulder seams.  I also added the seam allowance to the other edges to make measuring the finished yoke more accurate.

 2. Starting with the back, measure 4" down the seam allowance at CB and mark.  Use this mark and the CB to draw a perpendicular line across the back. This will be your back yoke seam line.

3. Cut the pattern apart on the line, then tape extra paper to the cut edges so you can draw in the seam allowance.  Once you have the new SA trimmed up your back piece is done.

4. Next take your front and draw in the seam allowance on the the neck and arm edge.  We're going to measure down on the SA for the front yoke line.  On the neckband edge measure down 2 3/4"and mark.

On the armhole edge measure down 3 1/2" and mark.

Then draw a diagonal line connecting the two marks for your front yoke line.

5. Once again cut the yoke line and then add seam allowance to the cut edges.

6. The last step is to connect the two yoke pieces.  Take the front and lay the shoulder stitch line on top of the back shoulder stitch line. Tape in place and trim up any overhanging edges.

You'll want to mark both the armhole and neckline shoulder points as notches.  Then when you're sewing the shirt up later you'll still have matching points for the sleeve head and neckband even though the seam is no longer there.

Now your pattern is ready to sew!

Confessions/Advice
I was a bit worried about sewing on the elbow patches on the old sewing machine.  Turns out if you use a stable knit, stretch needle, and a longer stitch length then elbow patches are easy peasy.

Husband Comment
"It's kind of like a Star Trek uniform with the stuff on the shoulders. What is that fabric? Isn't that bra fabric? You have bras on your elbows."

My Final Thoughts
This is a nicely drafted pattern with clear directions. If the style pleases you than go make a bunch of them. :)

It's time for the leopard scarf drawing results!  Thanks to everyone who put their name in, wish I had a scarf for each of you. Mr. Bee did the picking honors and the winner was Maris Olsen. Maris just send me your mailing address to knit(dot)n(dot)frog23@gmail.com and I will dispatch the scarf.