Some weeks ago I decided to sew my daughters some puff sleeved tees in anticipation of summer eventually arriving (yes, more non-seasonal sewing). I pulled out what felt like every knit tee pattern that I owned, plus those with sleeves drafted for puff sleeves. I thought that some of you would be interested to see the differences in shapes.

There are two of the puff sleeve pattern pieces that I looked at. Both are drafted for the same size bodice. I had already decided that I was happy to mix and match puff sleeve pattern pieces with bodice pieces as the puff at the sleeve head allows some forgiveness in setting the sleeve into the armscye. The two sleeve pieces are quite different shapes – I figure that the ‘slash and spread’ of the initial fitted sleeve that I assume the puff sleeve piece is based on was done a bit differently for each of them. This would also result in different amounts of gathering at the sleeve head versus the sleeve hem.  If you look closely you can also see that both these pattern pieces have notches marked for the shoulder point, front and back.  I always like to see this in sleeve drafting.

I also looked at the bodice of four different tee patterns. These are all adjusted to fit Clare, so have been shortened through the body, and some have also been graded across a couple of sizes for improved fit.  So essentially these are all for the same person.  I was intrigued in the differences in shaping.  It’s not just the difference in shaping through the body for bust/waist/hips, which I think was pretty much expected (some of the tees are described as fitted, whereas others as relaxed).  It’s the armhole shaping, the shoulder slope, and the neckline shaping that intrigues me!  This really gives me a refreshed perspective on what people often call ‘simple’ patterns.  When there are few pattern pieces, they really do need to be well drafted – and there’s more to it than you’d first think.  Just look at the variables in those pattern pieces – all for a tee shirt front.  And each of those little differences will make a difference in how they fit on different bodies.

It’s a reminder to me that there is no such as thing as a ‘perfect’ tee pattern.  You need to find the one that works best for your own shape, and the overall look that you are going for.  So isn’t it nice to have options!  There are many free tee patterns out there too – they can be a good way to try out different pattern designers and drafts.  I bet that with a bit of googling you could find a tee shirt comparison post where someone has sewn up a variety of tee patterns in the same fabric.  That would really show how the differences in pattern shapes translates on the three-dimensional wearer.  I’m not volunteering to do that comparison, by the way 😉

I’ll be back in a couple of blog posts to show you the tees that I did end up making for Clare and Stella!