Pintuck Sunburst Top

The Sunburst Top

Notice the Subtle pintucks around the neckline?

I seem to be on a t-shirt kick lately.  It is a lot of fun to make clothes for myself.  My most recent creation is this basic pintuck shirt.  I have wanted to try pintucking for a while, but I wanted a basic project to start with.  I used the same cap sleeve pattern that I've been using the last little while.  I found this great tutorial from Burda Style on pintuck fabrics.  It really was such a simple technique.  I am excited to try out a couple of different ideas that I have running through my mind.  

The fabric that I used was a really lightweight aqua knit (another piece I snagged from my mom's collection), lined with some white knit that I purchased at Wal-mart on clearance. To do the pintuck technique I traced my pattern onto the fabric, marked where I wanted my pintucks to be, and stitched away.  After sewing my pintucks I went back and adjusted the pattern (retracing the original pattern to accommodate for the pintucks-I needed more fabric for shoulder seams).  Normally when pintucking you pintuck and then cut out your pattern from the prepared fabric.  In this case I wanted the shirt to be one piece, and I wanted the pintucks to form around the neckline.  If you try a similar project you will want to be sure that you layout your pattern with a bit of extra material on each side of your pattern.

I chose not to trim the neck and armholes with ribbing.  Because I was using two layers of fabric,  I simply stitched the neckline and armholes with wrong sides together, clipped the curves, and turned the shirt right-sides out.  I added topstitching around the openings, stitched the side seams, and I was done.  The lightweight knit had a nice curled edge so I left the hem unfinished.

It is a pretty basic top, but was the perfect project to try out pintucking.  I think that it is going to be a great layering piece come fall.  

I hope that it inspires you to try out a few new sewing techniques.  It also feels great to use up fabric that I've had stowed away.  Don't forget to sign up for Stashbusting September if you haven't already.

Check out where I'm link-partying today.     

Check out my tips and tricks for sewing with knits: Part 1, Part 2