Hot Patterns: Riviera Once, Twice, Three Times a T-Shirt

The other day I bought three Hot Pattern patterns and I finally had a chance to sew one of them up. And you know what? I love both versions I made. I would love to make up the third version but I think I’ll need a thicker knit.

Here was my first version. On this version, I made the “regular” t-shirt and added the armbands to make the sleeves a little longer. I put the sleeve band on the cross grain for a little stripe fun. This knit is really thin and was a bit hard to sew. This pattern uses facings which I interfaced. This is a true boat-neck and the neckline is just a straight line between the shoulders. I found the neckline to be wide so I sewed the neckline seam about 1/2” more narrow on each side. This wasn’t quite enough and my bra strap shows. I have one criticism with this top. There is no pocket pattern piece on the pattern sheets. Okay, I have a second one. There is also no pocket placement line on the t-shirt. This is EXACTLY the type of thing I struggle with; the “correct” dimension on a pocket and where to put it. It is those small details that really makes something look homemade versus professional. So, no pocket for me. I may email them and ask about it.

 

I’m not in love with the facings but I think it may be the best way to deal with this type of neckline. Overall, it’s a win. Pooling above the butt because of my prominent ba-donk-a-donk.

 

This is version #2. I’m in love with this version. I narrowed the neckline down a little bit more than the first version. I ended up making the neckline 1” more narrow on each side. This width is about perfect for me.

 

Look at those sleeves! I had to laugh when The Sewing Lawyer put up a post recently about the stupidity of bell sleeves. I couldn’t agree more. This has the fun of a bell sleeve but with functionality. I CAN eat when I am wearing it!

 

This top is designed to be about 2” longer than the plain t-shirt. I like this length better than the other one.

 

I left the sleeves unhemmed and it will be fine in this fabric. Overall, I’m in love with this floral version.

 

I kind of wish I had made it a dress. I don’t think there would have been enough fabric for that though.

So far my experience with Hot Patterns has been one for one. We’ll see if the streak keeps up. I have the pants on the table right now so we’ll see how those fit. Oh, and for the record, my measurements fit into the size 8 and I made a size 8 with no alterations and things fit well. I didn’t even add length which I almost always do.