The Year's First Remake

 So, back before Christmas, I bought some socks from a bee-themed online sock maker; I like giving nice socks at Christmas (their merino wool socks will change your life, no joke there).  They've branched out into other garments as well, and I've been intrigued with the whole 'merino wool t shirt' thing I've seen.  So I thought I'd get one to see if the hype is true.  

The long-sleeved t I ordered wasn't 100% merino wool...it's blended with viscose...but it didn't cost $90 like some others, either, although I still thought it was a ridiculous amount of money for a t shirt.  But, given that merino jersey sells for about $30/yard, what you gonna do?

Well...when it got here and I put it on, I thought, maybe they'd better stick to socks....the fabric was nice and light and lofty, the color was good, the thumb holes are kewl, but...

Holy saggy bosomed batwtings, Batman, that looks awful.  Maybe I ordered a size too big?  My bust measurement put me right at the bottom of the XL range but I didn't want a snug fit, so that's what I got...

I think the armseyes are just cut Too Low.  It fits well at the hips.

But, you know, I really didn't want to mess with a return and I can't find fabric like that anywhere and I kinda specialize in recutting t shirts these days so... let's give it a go.

Unpick the seams, remove the sleeves, and open the sleeve seam to just above that coverstitched cuff that I did NOT want to remove.

Stack the sleeves, being very careful to keep right sides together:

Now, lay the selected t shirt pattern sleeve pattern over the cap, matching, as much as is possible,  the underarm seam lines.

 Whack off the excess sleeve cap.  This should take care of the extra long sleeves.

Now, fold the t-shirt body in half and, since I happened to grab the back first, lay the back over the fold, matching the fold line on the pattern and the intersection of the armsceye and shoulder seam.

Uh-oh.  The armsceye dips too low.  Um, what if I use the sleeve cap pieces I cut off to fill in the gap?

Let's cut the sides down, first.  

I morphed from the narrowest bit of the pattern out to the existing sideseam at the hem; I didn't want to narrow the hip area.  Just the top/shoulders.  Repeat for the front

Then, I cut the extra sleeve head bits in two and put one half on each underarm to fill in the gap and re-cut the armsceye.

I will not lie; I put a couple on backwards and had to redo them.  I don't have any intermediate pics, but here's the finished underarm, after adding the sleeve and closing the underarm seam:

Not dead perfect...it was not an exact process...but way better, doncha think?

 

 

 

Crazy to remake the thing, given what I paid for it, but I will wear this.

 ETA, looking at those pics...I think I ended up with the sleeves on the wrong sides, lol.  I was careful to put the back sleeve bit of the pattern against the back sleeve bit of the sleeves BUT...the fabric was wrong sides out.  I'm not sure, but I think I laid the pattern on right side up...which would have flipped the sleeves right to left. Wouldn't matter...except the thumb hole really is on the wrong side of the wrist, lol.  Doesn't hurt it; it just looks odd if you look close. But, you know, the original sleeve was twisted when I put my thumb through the holes, so...maybe it came that way and I didn't realize it.  Yeah, that's it. LOL.

I have a couple of more alteration projects in process to finish out before I dive into the scarf wardrobe sewing.  

Gives me a bit of time to ponder exactly what I'm going to do with that gorgeous but unstable cable sweater knit that arrived last week for the core wardrobe, lol.