and educational value. and maybe it’s not really that ugly.
after seeing one particularly awesome sweater posted on Day One Two of the Kids Clothes Week blog, and on the tails of my success sewing the raglan t-shirt, i was inspired to try to sew a set-in sleeve t-shirt. (except, i don’t know if you’d call it “set-in”, because i didn’t use that method to attach the sleeve to the body. but you get the idea. a regular sleeve t-shirt.)
i traced one of her existing size 3T t-shirt (mental high five! thinking ahead this time!) to make a pattern. i fudged it in a few places, but i think it came out ok.
here’s the sentimental part… i used a t-shirt from mister’s soccer team in high school as my muslin fabric. his whole family is pretty into soccer; his father was one of his team coaches. i think they’e going to love this shirt!
(she thinks that holding the lens cap up to her eye is taking pictures. i’m not sure why, but whatever it takes to get her to stand still for me. like jellybeans.)
mister’s team number was 7, and he drew on this shirt from EHS SoccerFest 17 (?) himself. unfortunately i didn’t think to take pictures of it before i cut it up. oops.
i switched the front and the back so that she could have a giant 7 on her belly. i was actually hoping that the shirt would be so big that i wouldn’t have any text on the back at all.
mister drew all this geometric/tribal patterning around the collar and sleeves. i didn’t want to lose it altogether, so i took the ribbing off the collar of his shirt and flipped it over for hers so it was still there, on the inside.
i used my serger to sew all of the seams and to attach the collar, and only top-stitched with my sewing machine at the hems. after this week, i have a new, loving relationship with my overlook machine!
the pattern needs a few tweaks, mainly some width across the belly and in the sleeves, but otherwise i’m pretty pleased. i think it’s really cool that i can make a (short sleeve) t-shirt for the bee from one large mens t-shirt!
hamster and the bee 
This turned out so great. I’m such a fan of making clothes for the littlest kids out of beloved adult discards. Kids seem to really dig wearing things that belonged to their special people. I do not love my serger, but I am kind of a wimp! I taught my teenager how to use it and she adores it. “It races so fast, mom!”
The bee does seem to really like that it was once her dada’s shirt! I was a bit afraid of my serger for awhile, mainly because a lot of mistakes could be irreparable. i would mostly use it for finishing straight seams and for finishing the edges of yardage before throwing it into the washing machine. but sewing these shirts, using old t-shirts (read: non-precious + free!) has really helped me get more comfortable with it.
you and your daughter could be a little powerhouse team together!