Cowl Neck "T-shirt"

I have no idea why I love cowl neck tops so very much but it is more than evident that I truly do. Of the 6 tops that I finished last year 3 of them were cowl necks and this year I am 2 for 2 with this one:

If you have never worked with knits before or really are very new to garment sewing, this is a great pattern to start with. It's Simplicity 1716. To make it even better, I picked it up for $1 at one of JoAnn Fabric's 5 for $5 sales last year. The fabric came from FashionFabricsClub.com and was purchased on sale. I usually don't pay more than $2 or so a yard, for cottons, so this top comes at a real steal.

I did make a few changes to the pattern. The first is that I snipped the under arm piece off of the sleeves because I don't like how it looks. It hangs down and open for all the world to see your underarm seam and hem. Yuck! Secondly, I cut the back in one piece. I also lengthened the bottom and omitted all the facings. That gave me a front, back and two sleeves. Talk about easy!

I have used this fabric before (here) with good results and I know that I don't have to finish the inside seams, they roll but don't fray. Other than that, it's just the matter of hemming the sleeves, bottom and neckline. Presto Chango! This cute top was started and finished in a day. I couldn't be more pleased.

Lol, that sounds like a really good story doesn't it? Well, the truth be told, my hand stitching addiction needed a fix. All those seams that didn't have to be finished, were finished by hand. Even with the extra work it really didn't take very long. I cut the fabric last night after dinner and finished up the last seam this morning.

Now, I know you are looking at this top saying to yourself, "this is not a t-shirt". Yes, I know but it's as close to a t-shirt as I'm going to make for myself, (Really, it's probably easier to make than a t-shirt anyway.) and I will wear it for the same reasons that anyone else would grab a t-shirt: comfortable, casual, economical, great with jeans and flip flops, no ironing needed, can be worn plain or dressed up, etc, etc. This is My Kind of t-shirt.