Another Hot Patterns!  I actually bought this one in hard copy a while ago, and have only just cut into it now.  I have to say that I’m very pleased with the result.

From the Hot Patterns website: A fresh take on the classic T, this super-wearable top
is designed for light to medium-weight drape-y knits with a little stretch, like single fiber or blends of silk, rayon, bamboo, cotton, or tencel jersey. Semi-fitted, pull-on T-shirt has a relaxed silhouette,  and features a ‘U’ neckline and short sleeves, both finished with self or contrast knit trim. The (contrast) back is gathered onto the yoke, and finishes with a narrow-hemmed shirt-tail; the front has a deep hem. This great T-shirt *obviously* works beautifully in solid or color-blocked tones, and looks great in your favorite textured, printed and striped knits. For an unexpected twist, make this with a contrast back, neckline & sleeve trim, in a complimentary print or plain fabric. This T is the perfect mix of casual and feminine, and it’s going to look great worn loose or semi-tucked with your favorite cropped slim-cut jeans, or a fluid wide leg pant.

Once again, I agonised over what size to sew.  I eventually settled on size 10, knowing that there was plenty of ease through the body.  The fabric for the front, sleeves and neckband came to me from a generous friend and is a viscose/spandex mix with a bit of oomph to it.  I used a lighter weight viscose/spandex knit for the back.

When I posted this to the Hot Patterns facebook group, I was asked about the sleeve fit. The sleeve cuffs are definitely quite fitted and firm in size 10 (remember, my measurements are closer to a Hot Patterns size 14) but they are quite comfortable during wear. I did narrow and shorten the hem band in order to have it sit flat. The original width would have required a great deal of stretch where it was stitched to the neckline if the inner neckline was going to sit flush. Easier and better proportioned to narrow it a bit. I kept the sleeve bands the same width as the neck band.

I’d quite like to make this with long sleeves for winter – it should be easy enough to use a long sleeve from another pattern as a guide to lengthen these ones.  This pattern really does lend itself to fun with fabric combinations. You do need to be careful about the fabric weight for the gathered back in contrast to the flatter front – if it’s too heavy it could easily drag the rest of the top backwards. I feel that I got it just right in this case.

There was a comment on my last Hot Patterns post about the questionable quality of the drafting and the instructions. Now that I’ve sewn a few Hot Patterns, I agree that there can often be errors in both. It’s funny – people often bag Style Arc instructions (and I agree that there early ones were a little more obscure) but I honestly have sewn SO many of their patterns and rarely have any issue with them. I do scratch my head more often with Hot Patterns. Not for this tee, unsurprisingly – how hard can it be to assemble a tee when you’ve made as many as I have over the years – but for some of their other patterns. I do however really like the styles, and have found that many of them are ahead of their time. Moral of the story? If you’re sewing with Hot Patterns, have a good reference book handy, and it’s also very useful to be part of their Facebook group. It’s a super active community and there is lots of advice to be had there regarding their patterns. But I can completely understand the emotions of the person who threw their hands up in the air (and the Hot Patterns in the bin)! I think we’ve all had that feeling with different pattern companies.