Technically no die roll for this one, since it was the last on the list. Curiously, it was the oldest idea on the list as well: a long sleeve shirt with a rib cage and arm bones rendered in reverse appliqué.
Unfortunately, my brain had apparently decided that these six die roll projects were in reality One Very Large Project, and getting to this last one was like getting to buttons on a shirt (or vest) in that it was accompanied by the feeling of "I just want this done so the whole thing will be finished" and things got...rushed.
I will say, it does work for proof of concept!
I was aiming for a loose, rough/DIY look, due to the unavoidable raw edges involved with reverse appliqué.
I traced the bones roughly onto freezer paper, off of a mass-produced printed rib cage (and arm bones) shirt I had, so I wouldn't have to fret over getting the overall sizes right.
Things broke down when I had the idea to not deal with transferring the design to the fabric by applying acrylic paint through the stencil created by the freezer paper, and decided to save a step and just iron the cut-out freezer paper bits directly to the fabric and sew around that. Then I watched almost all of that freezer paper peel off of the fabric as it flexed around while sewing. I did eventually think to pin the freezer paper in place, but it was too late (as I later discovered) for that one clavicle.
Of course I did consider scrapping the front as it was and cutting out new pieces (I was using the modified Kwik Sew 303 shirt pattern--in fact, this project is why I modified it) to which I'd transfer the shapes correctly. But. That whole "just want to be done" feeling convinced me not to.
Maybe it's silly, but the whole thing felt better once I applied the ribbing--the main black knit used in the shirt is fairly thin, so the ribbing not only finished everything cleanly, but it added more nice texture.
Since the fabric is so thin, I stabilized the shoulders with some thin rayon tape, and I only just realized I did not serge those shoulder seams. I serged all other seams, even though I did construction with the lock stitch machine, just to have finished seams. The serger thread is still navy, but it blends well.
The white waffle knit inside the reverse appliqué was originally cut as a large rectangle to go behind the shell while sewing, because I didn't want to risk things shifting and me accidentally sewing it in place with an edge shifted over to be exposed. I trimmed away the excess after cutting out the reverse appliqué bits on the front.
I tried it on quickly, over a T-shirt, and wasn't happy with how much the sternum stretched. I'll try it again with no shirt under and see if that makes any difference. There's a chance I might end up giving this to the kiddo.
As an experiment, I think it is successful! It showed me the things I'd need to change if I did it again, namely use sturdier fabrics and stenciling the parts to be cut away. Then again, I might end up liking it just fine once I try it on again, and that's the end of that, y'know?
It definitely is the end of the "choose the project with a die roll" experiment! And I might do that again in the future, too, if I get into another spot of having so many projects I want to do that I can't choose which to do first.
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