If anything, it is brighter in real life. But the fabric is lovely and soft and drapes wonderfully. And if I wear in on my bike, they will surely see me coming. And most importantly, the whole piece (therefore the shirt) only cost me $3.
Today's tutorial is on the tiny loop at the neck of the shirt. Of course, when would you ever do up a short sleeved shirt right to the neck but I like it as a detail in the design so sometimes I add the loop. The pattern instructions call for making a tiny tube and turning it right-side out. Are they nuts?
The tiny piece of fabric is cut on the bias and so it stretches. Instead of making a tube, I first iron the piece in half lengthwise.
Since it is so small and maneuvering the piece under the iron would cause third degree burns to my fingers, I use pins to help me out. I fold up the one half into half and pin it down. Then I fold over the other half. As this fabric is rayon and creases easily, it won't take but a touch with the iron to set it in place.
Then I fold both halves onto each other, folding in the raw edges, and press, removing the pins as I go.
Once I get it under the needle, it slithers around worse than Alan Rickman in Harry Potter. In retrospect, I probably would have been better off with a straight foot instead of the zipper foot.
As you can see, the stitching line is a little crooked but since it is a tiny piece anyway and will be folded in half when done, I don't really mind.
