A Burda ‘Pete’ tee

I made Hayden a t-shirt! And it fits! And he likes it! Success!!!

I picked up this beautifully soft, perfectly medium weight green jersey in Paris last November when I was there with my mum. It was in a tub outside one of Montmartre’s coupon shops (sorry, I can’t remember which one!) priced at just €5 for 3 metres and I knew I had to snap it up! I have split the piece with my mum but it really is the most perfect jersey. The back feels like it is slightly brushed so it’s lovely and soft. It’s not as thick as ponte but it is thicker than regular jersey. Colour wise, it seems to vary depending on the light – sometimes khaki, sometimes a rich forest green. Basically I want more – I guess I’ll just have to go back to Paris…

I ordered a pdf pattern from Burda for the first time to make this for Hayden and I have to admit, I wasn’t very impressed. I had spent some time searching online in the hope of finding a good freebie and had read on some blogs that the Pete t-shirt from Burda was a freebie. Unfortunately, the posts were a few years old, and Pete currently retails at £3.99/$5.03. The pattern is a classic crew neck slim t-shirt and it looked like it would be perfect for Hayden who is tall and skinny. However, when I had placed my order and tried to download my pattern, the website stated that the file is not present to be downloaded. Disaster. I contacted Burda to let them know and they kindly emailed me the pattern – they actually sent me the original draft file for the pattern! You can see all the handwritten notes on the pattern. It was actually really cool to see how a Big 4 pattern looks before it is digitised for sale. The biggest issue with this is that this version came with no instructions or neckband piece. Thankfully, having made a few t-shirts and sweatshirts previously I was confident I could assemble the pattern without guidance. I had to draft my own neckband though – I measured the neck opening on the body pieces and then took 2″ off that measurement, and it fits perfectly.

I made no adjustments to this at all and made a straight size small, sewing it together entirely on my overlocker. I was most pleased about the fit across the top of the shoulders; Hayden is quite broad-shouldered for someone so slim and the shoulder seam sides exactly on the shoulder point. However there seems to be a lot of excess fabric around the back of the arm so I want to look at this again before I make another. Looking at the image on the Burda Style site it looks like this is a problem with the pattern. Has anyone else made this and found a solution to the excess? I finished the neckband, chose not to overlock the hem and sleeve edge before I finished them using a regular stretch twin needle (although I snapped one because I got distracted by seahorses on iPlayer and then to avoid having to order a new one I asked Hayden to go to John Lewis on his way home from work, only to discover they only sell the 4mm version and ended up having to order some from ebay anyway). I ordered a spare one for the next time I get distracted by cute animals…

I’m hoping to find a really good deep inky blue jersey to make another version of this t-shirt. It’s a really easy sew and can probably be done in less than 2 hours. I definitely plan on making more!

(Photos taken in Shanghai in April – we got a few funny looks!)

 

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