Checkered/Past/Sweatshirt

My kid is sarcastic.  It's nature and nurture and a concentrated effort on his part. (He's also ten, so there's not much subtlety to his sarcasm, but I'm sure it'll develop.)  So when I spotted a very probably authentic later 1980s/early 1990s print jersey knit in the thrift store, I knew he'd like something made from it--and I'd already thrifted Kwik•Sew 1650, a kids' sweats pattern from 1987, so there was no need to wonder what pattern to use.

I chose the shirt from view A simply because view B just looks too fussy.  I did consider using the shoulder contrasts from view B, as well as considered omitting the shoulder contrasts completely.

I ended up going with "only do the contrasts on the front and omit them on the back despite what the pattern says" (which is what whoever owned the pattern before had apparently done, too.)  I also chose not to add the eyelet vents, because my eyelet setting skills are not...good. (Except for micro eyelets, thanks to a generous person who passed on their micro eyelet hand crimper to me...I really should remember to use that thing for doll clothes again...)

I mostly made this as-directed, though.  My only other major deviations were not-centering the neck band seam in the back, instead offsetting it from a shoulder seam, as is common with commercially-made t-shirts

and I did it lazily, without switching to black thread, so it shows.  Good thing it isn't in a really obvious place like the center, eh?

And you can see that I did top stitch in a few places

The neckband was the only place I serged, despite the pattern trying to get me to serge every seam with no lock stitching at all.  I know a lot of people adore sewing knits on their sergers, but, after decades of having the serger, I still don't trust me to get everything aligned properly to make a safe and secure stitch.  (The serging involved in the curtains' French seams reinforced this mistrust.)

I did not top stitch around the cuffs or hem, and, also, the white thread involved in their seams didn't make itself as obvious as the neckband, since they're a lot more relaxed.

I've been using more 1980s patterns lately, and they're actively reminding me that we wore everything really really loose back then.  (Aerobics leotards and rock'n'roll skintight blue jeans were some of the few specialized exceptions.)  I cut this in a size 12, so this wouldn't be too small next time long-sleeve season happens again.  Comparing it to some modern sweatshirts he has, it's...wide.  Really really wide.  So I eschewed the usual ¼" Kwik•Sew seam allowances on the sides/arms and made them 5/8".  It' still wide, but not quite 1980s-ly so.

When I was nearly finished with this, I realized I was sewing it on a machine from the mid-1980s, too.  Huh.

There's more than enough of this printed knit to make another shirt--maybe even for me, although I generally avoid wearing that much white.  I could also easily make a t-shirt for the kiddo (I mean, really, I could do both--a skinny tee on me is a regular loose fit tee on him...)

I also encountered some woven Shrek print fabric at a thrift store, which the kiddo asked if I could get it for him and make a meme-y shirt from that for him, too.  He's never seen any of the Shrek movies, and he doesn't want to (we've asked, many times), but he's all in for the memes.  I have a vague idea that sweatshirts can be made with woven bodies and rib knit edges--I remember having at least one such thing back in the 1980s, although it was a gift and I never wore it because I was too uptight for sweatshirts, heh.  I've been researching the possibility of adding a short placket, too, because I really don't wanna make an entire button-up shirt, although there might be enough...hmm...