the fitting room: jennifer’s easton cowl-neck tee

Jennifer is here from the Advisors Circle to talk about her experience fitting the Easton Cowl-Neck Tee in the latest installment of The Fitting Room. 

For the last few years, I have been trying to explore the world of knits. Although I still consider myself fairly new to sewing knit garments, I have loved learning through Liesl’s patterns. That is why I was so excited to try the Easton Cowl-Neck Tee.

First, I took my measurements to find my size for this pattern, just in case anything had changed. My measurements were as follows:

Bust: 36 1/2”
Waist: 30”
Hips: 37”

I usually wear a small in Liesl + Co. patterns. But when I saw that the size chart put the size small at a 35 1/2″ bust, I chose to start by making a medium with no alterations. (This was a mistake; keep reading to learn why.) I also knew I would be using the A/B cup version of the pattern.

I used a midweight stretch blend knit that had some spandex in it. Although it was a midweight fabric, it had a nice drape to it. As you can tell in the photos, the shirt fit, but it had far more ease than I expected. There was extra room under the arms and sides, the shoulders were a bit wide, and the hem was lower than I would like.

What I missed from my initial review of the measurements was that the bust measurement is for the upper bust. This is a critical detail. [Note: If you need more details related to the difference between bust and high/upper bust measurements, this post has great information.] So, my 35″ high bust actually puts me at a size small, as does my hip measurement, although my waist is still a medium.

So for the second version, I made a size small with no modifications, this time in a jersey knit that I had in my fabric stash. This was a lighter weight fabric but not quite as drapey. I wanted to test and see whether the amount of ease in the waist was sufficient. The fit was fairly good, but I thought I could improve it a bit.

For the final version, I wanted to shorten the tee by 1”. I slashed and overlapped the pattern by that amount at the shorten line at the waist. I also wanted a little more ease, so I added 1/4” to the waist, tapering to nothing under the arm and at the hips on both the back and front pattern pieces. This gave an extra inch through the waist.

This one was made from a midweight cotton jersey and I’m happy with the results.

In the future versions, I’ll likely keep the 1/4” ease from the waist all the way to the hem and use a fabric that has a touch of spandex, as that seemed to work the best. Given how quick the tee is to stitch up, I see more in my future!