We are so excited to be part of the MadeIt Patterns Stripe Tee Challenge this week. The premise is so fun. We got to sew up the Strip Tee Adult and teen pattern and put our own little twist on them. We will be competing against 7 other mother/daughter teams to see who made it best. The girls had to sew their tops on their own but the mom’s were able to guide and help them along the way. Super cool, right?!
It was such a great excuse to get my girly behind the machines and to spend a fun afternoon together. My daughter is still a beginner sewist but loves the chance to create. She took a sewing class two summers ago that taught her the basics. I wanted her to learn the correct principles and I knew having someone else teach her would give her a foundation that would serve her well into the future. She made bags, pillows, and pajama pants that summer. Since then she’s made a hoodie, leggings, and a few other things. We struggle to find the time to sew together so this challenge was a great push to get us together in the sewing room.
We started with a trip to our favorite shop, Raspberry Creek Fabrics. She fell in love with this pretty burgundy windowpane sweater knit and I knew it’d be a great choice for her. I love the vibrant color and immediately thought of the faux leather in my stash as an accent for the strip in back. She loved the idea! This fabric is also fairly stable and easy to sew which I wanted for her (I steered her clear of all the lovely rayon spandex for this first one!).
For my version, I kept going back to this ‘boring’ medium grey french terry. I wanted to add sleeves to mine and the weight and drape of this blend is so good! I wear grey too much I know but I think you can never have enough of it. It’s a great basic that provides the perfect backdrop to add accessories or in this case a little bling!
I love that these tops are all business in the front. Just your classic tee and sweatshirt, right?
But there’s a little party in the back! The leather adds such an edge and those sequins are brilliant.
The sequins are a remnant from one of my favorite Project Run and Play looks for my daughter and it was super sentimental using them for this piece. We shot that weeks look in this same location too, bringing us full circle.
I added long sleeves to my top to be able to wear it as we head into our cold season. I measured the sleeve opening, my wrist, and my arm length. I used those measurement to make an angled rectangle. It’s very basic and probably not the ‘correct’ way but I’m very happy with how it turned out.
It’s such a cozy top and I love the little extra pop that back strip brings.
For my daughters look, she sewed up the smallest teen size although her chest is still a couple of inches shy of the charts (teeny girl!). At eleven she has a 26″ chest and is 60″ tall putting her in an XXS chest and S height so we went with an XXS and then added 2 inches to the length.
She did all of the work and sewing on this herself and I’m super proud of how it turned out. I gave her a little plaid matching lesson on the side seams but apparently forgot to check the back, oops! Design element?! She’s such a pro at topstitching though. Like so good I should hire her out to do all mine, lol! I showed her how to use soft and stretch hem tape for the hems and that sure helped make that step a breeze.
This top is just five pieces (four pattern pieces) which makes it a great beginner project. It took my daughter about two hours from print to hemming (mine was done in under an hour if you’re more experienced). I love that it’s such a blank canvas that she can now use to customize tees to her liking. I think she’ll be able to sew them on her own from now on and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. We may need to add a sleeve piece to her pattern so she can wear them all winter long too. She’s requested a long sleeve black tee or turtleneck to layer with this one so she can get more wear out of it as our days get chillier. Don’t you just love that happy face?!
Make sure you head over to Instagram to see all the competitors this week. You can vote for our look by simply liking our post (easy peasy). Follow the hashtag #stripteeteamchallenge to see all the other looks this week. I have a feeling we’ll be in great company! So many amazing seamstresses and their daughter are participating!
Make sure to head over to Madeit Patterns to pick up your Strip Tee patterns for 20% off this week! I’m sure you’ll love them as much as we do!
SewSophieLynn 
Erm! I’m in love. Your daughter did an AMAZING job. She’s a natural. Very well done to her. And your Strip Tee speaks my language. Grey has always been a favourite of mine, but the added bling at the back is the icing on the cake.
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