Wow, I have been such a lazy blogger lately! With no evening hours for photos and no good setup for inside photos, the fall/winter months are really challenging bloggy times for me. I hope you all will forgive me!
I did manage to make outfits for the kids when we had our last family photos taken in September (!), and here is the first one.
J in the Helter Skelter Tee by Shwin Designs
J, my tall, gangly 5 1/2-year-old is wearing a Helter Skelter Tee by Shwin Designs.
I have nothing earth-shattering to say about this pattern. It’s a nice pattern. Well-done, easy to construct with a fun little twist.
If you have a TNT t-shirt pattern in your stash, it would be quite easy to recreate the Helter Skelter effect with a few slashes to your pattern. I actually really liked the fit of this t-shirt on J. It’s long enough for him with just the right amount of looseness for an active 5-year-old boy. He looks so grown-up!
I can’t believe how grown up he looks here!
Both the fabrics are from Girl Charlee. The gray is just a basic cotton-spandex blend, and the teal stripey one is available here. They’re a little slinky, and I really like the drape on him. The fabric gives the t-shirt more of a soft, vintage t-shirt feel. When ordering from Girl Charlee, I always make sure I order fabric with some spandex or rayon blended with the cotton. I find that I have pretty good luck with those, but I’m really not a fan of their 100% cotton fabrics.
Helter Skelter
Pattern: Helter Skelter Tee by Shwin Designs
Size: 5.
Fabric: Cotton blends from Girl Charlee. The teal stripey one is available here
Difficulty: Adventurous beginner. This is actually a pretty easy pattern, but you do need to line up seams fairly precisely for a nice, clean look. Still, an adventurous beginner shouldn’t have any problems.
Techniques required: Sewing knits, hemming knits, sewing a neckband, matching seams, setting in flat sleeves.
Modifications: None.
Fit: Really good. J is a skinny little kid, and I think this pattern has the perfect amount of ease on him. I love that is comfortable for him to wear, but still makes him look so grown up!
Pattern Format: This pattern from Shwin Designs comes in PDF format. It’s a pretty standard PDF, nothing particularly great or awful about it.
Pros:
- Fit is really good, at least on my tall, skinny kid.
- Interesting detail with the diagonal color blocking.
- Straightforward construction. Once the front and back pieces are assembled, it goes together like any other t-shirt pattern.
Cons:
- While this is a cute pattern, it’s really just a hack on a basic t-shirt. I like the shape of this t-shirt, but I couldn’t recommend spending the money if you already have a good t-shirt pattern in your stash. A couple of slashes to the pattern and boom, you’ve got the same thing. If I didn’t already have it in my stash, purchased as part of a bundle somewhere along the line, I wouldn’t have bought it.
Overall Grade: C. Don’t get me wrong, I like this pattern and I like the shape of the t-shirt, but I just really can’t recommend buying this as a stand alone pattern. To me, it really is better suited as a tutorial for modifying an existing t-shirt pattern rather than a stand alone pattern worth an extra $9.00.
**And once again, no freebies here.
the creative counselor 