![\"\"](\"http:\/\/oliverands.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pre2010\/2994131268_2ccc110de0_o-781799.jpg\")
<\/a>While I was contemplating all this, it occurred to me that I adore my old French navy shirt. It’s a little slouchy and very comfortable. I love the navy and white stripes, the soft knit French terry, and the buttons at the shoulder. “Hey!” I thought, “That would be such a great style to re-interpret for kids.” This is my version of that beloved shirt.<\/p>\n
For this garment, I stitched the interlock pretty much the same way I sew any woven fabric. I don’t have a serger or use any special stitches on my machine, so obviously those of you who have more experience stitching with knits will be able to do many more interesting things than I did here. One thing I did do, though, is to put a heavier thread in my bobbin when I did the topstitching. And I love the result I got. The stitching really stands out and doesn’t get swallowed up in the stretchy fabric the way ordinary topstitching might.<\/p>\n And what about adding appliques to a solid or a woven stripe (horizontal, if you please) for everyday play? (Never done an applique? I did a tutorial on disdressed<\/a> a couple years ago that you might want to read.) I’m envisioning all sort of fun designs you could add. Ice cream cones. Lobster. Dinosaurs. Oooh, robots! <\/p>\n You could also use the freezer paper stencil and instructions from the Sandbox Pants<\/a> pattern to paint fun shapes onto the shirt using fabric paint, which is fast and easy and actually fun to do with kids.<\/p>\n Up next: the sailor-style skirt and pant that go with this top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We always take customer feedback seriously, and one thing we’ve heard clearly in the last year is that people want more patterns for boys’ clothing. Most boys’ tops are either T-shirts (no fun to make, in my opinion) or shirts …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-sailboat"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/2994131268_2ccc110de0_o-781700.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-1w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2292,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2011\/02\/celebrate-the-boy-sewing-for-boys.html","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":0},"title":"celebrate the boy: sewing for boys","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"February 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Celebrate the Boy week over at Made by Rae, I thought we would spend a little time today talking about sewing for boys. At Oliver + S, we make patterns for boys and for girls. Not all other pattern companies do, but we are committed to this.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/4633684766_17367e418a_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9602,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2014\/01\/my-favorite-oliver-s-pattern-kristin-from-skirt-as-top.html","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":1},"title":"my favorite oliver + s pattern: kristin from skirt as top","author":"skirt as top","date":"January 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Kristin from skirt as top shares why the Sailboat Top, Pants + Skirt is her favorite Oliver + S pattern.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_0524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":99,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/04\/rickrack-inspiration-via-flickr.html","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":2},"title":"rickrack inspiration via flickr","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"April 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many adorable outfits showing up on the Oliver + S Flickr group lately. Here are two recent additions that both use rickrack with terrific results. The Tea Party Sundress pattern includes a Playsuit option, which can be really sweet and practical for small children. Although most of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/3398985971_445fa895bb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/03\/sailboat-pants-and-skirt.html","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":3},"title":"sailboat pants and skirt","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"March 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a favorite pair of canvas sailor pants. They're French (of course). They've got wide legs. They are about as flattering as a pair of pants can be. Did I mention that they're really comfortable, too?I was thinking about them when I designed the Sailboat pattern. I didn't look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/sa-pants-767427.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59858,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/03\/brittneys-capsule-wardrobe.html","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":4},"title":"brittney\u2019s capsule wardrobe","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"March 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Be inspired by Brittney's capsule wardrobe. She took four Oliver + S patterns and sewed four bottoms and five tops. The end result is an adorable girl's capsule wardrobe.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brittneyF.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1430,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2010\/08\/ruffled-sailboat-skirt-or-pants.html","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":5},"title":"ruffled sailboat skirt or pants","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"August 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A week or two ago I had a little brainstorm one morning and dropped into the Oliver + S discussion forums to ask if anyone wanted to give it a try. In fact, several people expressed an interest. Here is the original idea, roughly explained: And here are the results.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/ruffle-sailboat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67337,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/67337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
Not only can this pattern be sewn from a printed cotton, linen, or other woven fabric, but it’s also great for knits. I made this green-and-white striped sample with interlock, which is my favorite knit fabric because it’s a bit more substantial than jersey and doesn’t curl up the way that jersey tends to do. A couple of friends have been telling me about the many new knit fabrics that are available, which is great because it used to be so difficult to find them. The worst part of sewing with knits is finding matching rib trim. But that’s not a problem with this pattern, fortunately, as it doesn’t require any trim.<\/p>\n<\/a>
This top can also be dressed up with luxurious fabrics. Linen or silk with carved mother-of-pearl buttons for a girl? Beautiful.<\/p>\n<\/a>
Anyway, the Sailboat top<\/a> is is seriously the easiest shirt to sew. It comes together in no time, and the sleeve fits the armhole very easily. No messing around with easing in the extra fabric. I could sew these shirts all day and be a happy person. Could probably finish a mess of them in no time, too. I want to teach this pattern for a class sometime soon; it would be perfect for new students who have never followed a pattern before. It’s not difficult to sew, and it scores high on the accomplishment\/satisfaction scale. Perfect.<\/p>\n