Madewell Boxy Tee Knock-off

Sooooo I was lurking around the Madewell site the other day cause I like to pretend that I'm a 6 foot boho chic kind of girl.  The kind who has lobster bakes on the beach and thinks casual games of volley ball are great fun. Of course the reality is that I'm 5' 6" and way to curvy to look anything but frumpy in the baggy unstructured styles. Volley ball is my mortal enemy and I don't much care for the beach. "The sunlight, it burrrrrnssss! Where is a grotto where I can lay on a cold rock?"  But I will take any lobsters you have on hand and a giant mug of melted butter. Get into my belly undersea creatures!

Now where were we? Oh yes, talking about the Madewell site.  I had one of those, "Pfffft, I can make that," moments upon seeing this knit linen T-shirt.  My normal MO is to think that, pinterest it and then do nothing about it for a year.  But this time being desperate for some tops that fit, I got out the Lady Skater pattern and made it happen. 

The Lady Skater pattern you say? Are you in some sort of secret contest to hack Kitschy Coo patterns as many times as possible?  Weeeeell, let's just say Froggie and I have a little side beating action going on in that department.  Even so, using the Lady Skater seemed practical since it has the exact neckline needed for the top.  All a girl had to do was play around with proportions.

For my first go at the T-shirt I decided to trace the Lady Skater pattern 2 sizes larger than the recommended size.  The bodice was then lengthened, with a little checking against the Trifecta top, and I decided on about 2" of ease around the hip.  The Madewell garment looks more roomy at that area, or else it's just that the models have no hips.  I've found for my figure just a little bit of of ease in that location is best.

What did I get?  A proper over sized 80's T-shirt. I just needed some gathered yoke jeans to tuck it into.  *Side note -Is anyone else completely horrified that gathered yoke pants are coming back into Vogue? I want to yell at the young kids, "Don't do it, learn from your elders who made that mistake!"*  So as I was staring at my 80's T-shirt in the mirror it dawned on me that the neckline area was fine.  The problem was with the sleeves being too long/baggy.  I went back to the drawing board and retraced the armhole area/sleeves in my recommended size.  The rest of the shirt was left over sized and I mocked up another muslin. Guess what? It was perfect! 

I've broken out the hacking steps below, so you don't have to read all my drivel while you hack. The steps are exactly the same for the front and back pieces so I've only shown the front.

Hacking Steps

1. Trace Lady Skater neckline/shoulder and neckband two sizes larger than your regular size.

2. Trace armhole and sleeve in your recommended size.  I added an extra 1" of length to the sleeve so it could be hemmed instead of attaching the sleeve band.

3. Extend the CF/CB line down to the length you want the shirt to be. I used the trifecta top pattern as a guide for my length, but you could use any T-shirt you like.

4. From your desired hem length, square out a horizontal line from the CF/CB.  The length of the line should be 1/4" of your hip circumference plus the amount of ease you desire.  On my shirt I wanted about 2" of ease at the hip for my 40" hip circumference.  Both my front and back pattern pieces have a 10.5" hemline.

5. For the side seam connect the hemline and bottom of the armhole with a diagonal line.

6. You can leave the hemline straight or go back and slightly curve it up a the side seam area.

7. Finished pocket dimensions are  4.5" wide and 5" long.  Draw a rectangle that size and add about an 1.5" to the top of the pocket so that it can be folded over and stitched. Add a narrower seam allowance to the other edges of the pocket.

Construct as you would any knit T-shirt, though I would recommend sewing the pocket on first thing.  It's a lot easier to do on a flat piece of fabric. I used my sewing machine with a little longer than normal stitch length to attach the pocket. All other seams were serged and the hems were coverstitched.

You will want to make up this style in a knit that has some drape.  My shirt is made out of a 2 ply rayon knit, it has good cross wise stretch but limited length wise stretch.   If you'd like to try a linen knit, like the original shirt, then you can pick up some yardage at Marcy Tilton, Emmaonesock and Mood Fabrics. Scroll around and look for "knit" in the description since these are grouped with the normal woven linen fabrics.

As always, happy hacking my dears.  In the meantime I'll be in my evil lair thinking of more ways to cut up patterns. Muhaaaaa!