My 1st Love Notions Classic Tee (But Not My Last!)

Love Notions Classic Tee

Well, hello! Excuse me for a moment while I dust off this poor, neglected blog. I hope you are all staying healthy and sane. I wake up every morning thinking about what a beautiful day it is and what I'll do. Then I remember. There's a pandemic. Now, I'm not really complaining because I've got a very good situation. It's just that I forget about this global disaster and then I get quite a comeuppance. Every morning.

To try to focus on the positive and to help others, I've made lots and lots of masks. Hundreds. So, a few weeks ago, my son-in-law, Aloysius, said he'd like to learn to sew.  It took about ten minutes to teach him. He picked it up faster than anyone I've ever known. He's a structural engineer and a contractor, so he's a natural (unlike me!).  Anyway, he wanted to learn how to make masks--he already had several that I'd made for him and Mehetabel. So, one Saturday the quaranteam (Aloysius, Mehetabel, Carmelita (his mother), and I) got together. I brought two of my machines, A and M had their machine (a Babylock BL9), and Carmelita brought her 1947 Singer Featherweight.  We had all the supplies and A and M had set up a folding table to cut the fabrics, elastic, bias strips, and pipe cleaners.

We set up all four machines on the dining room table so we could be together. I'm not used to sewing in a group - at least not since 7th grade Home Ec (just one or two years ago!) or in 4-H (also one or two years ago! You probably shouldn't believe anything I write).  It was really nice doing this usually-solo activity with the rest of the quaranteam. We listened to music, chatted, petted puppies, and, of course, made masks.  It was at the beginning of our session that I probably spent ten minutes showing Aloysius how to lift and lower the presser foot, wind a bobbin, thread the machine, sew forward and backstitch, and pivot. That was it!  He was off! And faster than the rest of us. Not that it's a race. Also, we were well supervised by the the very good boys (woof).

Mehetabel and Aloysius conquer the machines

We live in Reno, Nevada, USA, the "Biggest Little City," and witty Mehetabel named our endeavor the "Biggest Little Sweatshop." Such a card. She should be dealt with. That day, I think we made 35 masks. We (safely) mailed or (safely) hand-delivered (to driveways--no people were actually seen) them to friends, colleagues, friends-of-friends, and others.  

From our most recent sewing session: 52 masks!

Now, an organization to which I belong, the Assistance League of Reno Sparks, needs 300+ masks to deliver to low-income seniors and veterans to whom we regularly deliver groceries. These masks will be added to their grocery bags.  The Biggest Little Sweatshop is back in business! This Sunday, we will get together and sew more. We're going to try to knock out fifty.  We have all the supplies except we're running low on pipe cleaners. I've ordered more, but they won't be here in time. No problem, though; adding the pipe cleaner is the last step. A pipe cleaner is put into the nasal (bias) strip and then are shaped to one's nose. Here's the team wearing our own masks. Can you tell we're smiling?

In between bouts of mask-making, I've been sewing for fun.  Here's my latest: a Love Notions Classic Tee.  I chose the crew-neck. This was my first Love Notions pattern and it is a winner.  

These two good boys LOVE Mehetabel!

I used this 70s floral jersey from Mill End Fabrics in Reno, Nevada.  To be clear, this fabric isn't from the 70s, but the print reminds me of a dress I had from way back then.  I chose this fabric because it's not at all slippery and very soft!  And it's cute! 

Now to garment sewing. As I always do, I reinforced the shoulder seams, this time using interfacing. After sewing the shoulder seams, I tackled the neckband (which I rarely have difficulties installing). It was late at night. I shouldn't be allowed to sew after dark, because that's when I make silly mistakes. I should do it first thing in the morning! Oh well. I've learned this lesson before, maybe maybe this time it'll stick! Except this time even though it was late at night and I was very tired, I inserted the neckband without a problem. I used the cover stitch to finish the neckband. After that, I pinned the sleeves to the armscyes and (probably wisely) decided to actually sew them in the morning.

So, the next morning, all I needed to do was sew and serge the sleeves, the side seams, and do the hems. Easy peasy! And here's the finished T-shirt on Mehetabel.

The Love Notions Classic T comes with several sleeve and neck variations, different cup sizes, in sizes XS-5X.  It's looser in the body which I appreciate!  And it was only $5 when I purchased the PDF pattern from their website.  It was easy to tape the pattern together because of the layering feature. This top is size medium.  I definitely have more of these shirts planned.