Two Cashmerette Concord Tees

Yes, it’s true. My love for the Cashmerette Concord Tee knows no bounds! It’s a great pattern for hacking, but it’s also great on its own.  In an effort to be more mindful and sustainable in my sewing, I’m trying to fill holes in my wardrobe, especially those related to work-wear, which we all know is the most boring type of sewing. I’m a geologist and though I don’t spend all my time in the field, there is almost never a day that doesn’t present the possibility for unpacking a cooler full of sample bottles or doing a little lab work. Which really means I need more practical jeans and t-shirts type outfits!

I ordered some double brushed poly from Imagine Gnats shop, which has proven to be a great fabric for everyday wear. I would REALLY like to buy less polyester since I know its horrible for the environment, but until I start sweating less and stop having to do field work in the desert in August, its not going to happen. I can’t imagine wearing a soggy cotton shirt all day so for now I’m just going to try to be a little more careful about my polyester use. And I deem a couple of hardworking t-shirts to be a an appropriate deployment of polyester!

Your eyes do not deceive you, I made two t-shirts out of the exact same fabric in two (only slightly different) colors. I wanted to follow the wise advice of many internet sewists and batch sew these, but I’m glad I didn’t. I made the purple one first and it came up a little small so I was able to size up for the blue one.

I typically sew the Concord in a 16-18-20 and that is fine in cotton and rayon knits, but this DBP has very aggressive recovery. I added a little ease to the blue version by offsetting the center front and back about 1/4″ from the fold of the fabric and by eyeballing an extra 1/4″ to the side seams when I cut it out.

This DPB is easy to wear, but its so thin that it really does show every detail of what is going on under the shirt! You’ll have to take my word for it that the blue version is much more comfortable to wear.

Yep, thats tight through the arms and back, but I will wear it under fleece in the winter and long sleeves shirts for sun protection in the summer, so it will be fine. But like I said, LAYERING PIECE!

Yep, much better! I just love how customizable this tee shirt pattern is. I know a lot of people might find sewing tee shirts to be boring or a waste of precious sewing time, but I’m always glad when I make the time to do it. As three different sizes just on my top half, I am so happy to be able to make a t-shirt that doesn’t gape horribly through my bust and have shoulder seams halfway down to my elbows. Yes, I do see that pulling from my bust to my high hip, but I’m choosing to ignore it. Its just a t-shirt after all!

Plus, making t-shirts gives me a chance to work on my coverstitching skills. It’s surely a work in progress, but I was pretty pleased with this v-neck insertion and topstitching! And I’m super happy with these tees, they both get worn weekly, both around the house and at work.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. I tested this pattern during its development a couple of years ago and thus received the pattern for free. This did not sway my opinion in any way.