Sewing: Military-Inspired Knit Shirt

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Chris is enormous. Lifting weights ferociously over the course of 4 years has a way of adding mass. Unfortunately all of his awesome thrifted tees from when we were dating don’t even come close to fitting around his massive shoulders.

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Someone is not happy about me stopping him on his way out the door to snap some pics.

 

Chris isn’t much of a clothes shopper now that he has a wife (and doesn’t have to impress girls with his expansive wardrobe). Now this means the only clothes that he tends to wear are the free teeshirts he’s collected from work and other miscellaneous sponsored events.

His favorite of those tees is a Flipboard tee I scored for him at Alt Summit. It’s a soft American Apparel long sleeve tee that he wears ALL THE TIME. The flipboard logo and grey shirt aren’t totally offending, but I wanted him to have something new with an identical fit. So I drafted him a shirt from the Flipboard tee.

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The fit turned out practically identical, but it was a bit loose to begin with. I quickly zipped around the sides to get a better fit. Admittedly, I wasn’t too nice when he commented about how tight the new fit was.

Of course if Penelope were to complain I wouldn’t have been nearly as offended. If I didn’t know better, I would assume I was pregnant. Chris lovingly deals with a lot of my emotions, he should at least get a nice tee shirt out of it.

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I used paper thin leather on the shoulders as a fun detail. I didn’t want to go to all of the work to make just a plain tee. I love what the leather patches do.

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Drafting and sewing took about 3 hours for this shirt. I’m sure another shirt would take less time. The fabric used is a waffle thermal knit in olive I scored on a fabric destash. I got about 3 yards of fabric and used about a yard and a half, so I have just enough for a few tees for the kiddos. I think Felix needs a hoodie out of this knit. It’s super soft!

I feel pretty proud of myself for making something manly for my man. I now have a pattern I can use to make more of these tees for him. Maybe a V-neck pocket tee is in his future.

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    1. This is kinda sweet, I know today is not significant to you, but It is ANZAC day here in Australia (Australian, New Zealand Army Corps).
      So this military feel had a real connection- for me anyhow. Isn’t it amazing how our armed forces inspire us in our daily lives?
      Through fashion, design, and for us Aussies- food. It’s our tradition today to make ANZAC biscuits (a cookie in American terms)- let me know if you’d like the recipe.
      I made some to share with the retired serviceman in our family, I might even try my hand at this shirt for him too- love it!

    2. phil says:

      cool t-shirt , reminds me when i was a soldier

    3. MrsAlwaysForever says:

      Great job! Love the detailing.

    4. Heidi says:

      Maybe it’s the weather? I’ve been feeling a bit out of sorts myself and I know I’m looking forward to some warm spring sunshine.
      Great work on the tee. I like the fit, but I think my husband gets made fun of for wearing shirts that fitted…I like them because it’s visual proof that he takes care of his body (which wasn’t always the case, he lost 30 lbs last year and I believe him when he says he’s never going back).

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