Deer and Doe Plantain adventure!

I finally jumped onto the bandwagon and made a Plantain! I had some problems with the fit and although I did some adjustments I am not fully happy with the fit yet!

My final Plantain version.

Pattern: Plantain from Deer and Doe, which is available for free from here!

Fabric: I bought a super cosy jersey from Goldhawk Road. It was £4.50 the meter and I managed to cut the three-quarter sleeve version from only 1 m of fabric! There was loads of squeezing and shuffling involved. For the elbow patches I used some leftover jersey from my latest ladyskater dress - that you haven't seen yet. :) But be patient, I will show it to you soon! If you wonder, no these fabrics were not in my stash, but I made allowances for jersey anyway. I looooooooove jersey. Most of my bought clothes are actually jersey!

Pattern alterations: I graded from size 36 bust to size 40 hip. Sloping shoulder adjustment - I added 5/8" to the back shoulder seam and removed 5/8" from the front. To not move the sleeve cap, I added 5/8" at the sleeve back seam and removed it from the sleeve front seam. I think because of this the sleeves are not sitting properly - next time I will just move the sleeve cap. Swayback adjustment - I took out 1". But looking at the fit, I will have to take out more!

Construction: It was a slight nightmare adventure! For my first attempt, I just used the pattern as it was and because I was sewing with my overlocker that went really fast. But when I tried on the Plantain, I realised that a boxy style just doesn't suit me! I looked like wearing a tent and there were massive pools of fabric at the waist to hip area. I thought, no problem, you can just tuck it into a skirt - there was no way I could do that because it looked even worse. I also used the wrong settings on my overlocker and the seams were puckering. It just looked awful on me. And that although there are so many beautiful versions out there...

Uhh, all these drag lines.

This meant, I took everything apart. And what joy it is to open overlocked seams. My new best friend was the lint roller! The threads were just everywhere. To get a better fit at the hips, I took my Burda dress pattern out, aligned it with the center back and front of Plantain and marked the new seam lines. I then carefully pinned the seams together and using the right settings on my overlocker went sewing. And that is how I ended up with my version of the Plantain. Slightly better fitted and not boxy at all!

I am not happy with the fit of the sleeves and back yet and will have to address this for my next version. I bought already a white jersey with little gold stripes in it. So keep your eyes peeled!

Ahem, I had to take the sleeves apart a second time, because I actually forgot to stitch the elbow patches on :( I could have left them out, but I really wanted to add them. Although I pinned the patches very well they still stretched a bit and are now a bit bulky. But luckily you can't see it when I am wearing the Plantain!

Lastly, I broke my twin needle (and it was the only one I ever owned!) when attempting to topstitch the neckband! I am just happy that it only bent and no pieces were flying around!

Do I like it? I am not in love with it because of all the struggles I had. And because the fit is not great. Maybe I should just get the Renfrew pattern to make a snug jersey top!

Have I worn it yet? I have - in combination with my Beignet skirt. I actually wanted to make a T-Shirt that I can wear with my Beignet, because somehow my wardrobe hardly has any basics that I can wear it with. I guess, I just chose the wrong pattern. The Plantain is a T-Shirt that you can better wear with trousers, but not tugged into a skirt.