Reverse Rib Cage (again)

Several years ago, I made a shirt with a reverse appliqué rib cage (then I used the freezer paper left over from that to make a stenciled rib cage shirt.)  I later had the idea that it would be fun to make a similar shirt with either the main fabric or the appliqué fabric being a floral print, and I had more than enough floral knit left over from the last project to finally try that.

So I did!

 

 

I drew the ribcage in Inkscape, so I could scale the graphic to whatever size I needed.  The first time I printed it, it was too small...which I didn't notice until after I had fused it to the piece of fabric cut for the shirt front.  Oops.

I was able to peel that off and re-fuse it to another piece of fabric, which I then stenciled with white paint, for some other theoretical project.  I then printed the rib cage outlines again, larger, and had to tile multiple pieces of paper together, before tracing the total image onto freezer paper, then cutting everything with a craft blade.  Then I applied random old paint with a sponge brush, let that dry, then pin basted the white fabric to the back of the floral fabric.  That was followed by stitching around all of the painted areas, then VERY VERY CAREFULLY trimming the painted areas away.  Then I trimmed around the stitching on the back, and everything was ready to assemble like any other shirt I've made using a combination of New Look 6068 with Kwik Sew 303's sleeves...plus a freeform collar band.

I expect--and look forward to--the raw edges to start curling after being washed, and adding more texture to the front.

I wasn't sure how long I would have to wait, after having the idea that this would be the floral knit fabric for this project, before I had a suitable amount of white knit fabric, because I am not the kind of person who buys white fabric in general (I'm...accident-prone...)  However, I was recently in a thrift store on 99¢ Clothing Day and found a large white T-shirt that looked like it had been worn once and immediately stained in a small but conspicuous area, and I didn't hesitate to get that to use for this.

Making the shirt was straightforward, complicated only very mildly by my decision to once again stitch the hems twice, to try to emulate the look of coverstitching. 

I did serge the raw edges, just because I don't like seeing raw edges on seams, even when they don't matter in things like knits.

I was prepared to have to put a seam at the center back, but I had more than enough large areas of fabric left that that wasn't necessary.

The weather seemed like it was cooling off significantly, but the current forecast is for daytime highs to start creeping back up to 80°F/27°C over the next week, so it may not be time for long sleeves yet.  However, I do think I want to see, whenever the weather cooperates, how it looks with this skirt (which I have also worn with the pastel stenciled ribcage shirt.  I am predictable. Although, I just realized it might work with this skirt, too...)