Monday 4 April 2016

26: More free raglan sleeve T shirt patterns - Comparing the free raglan sleeved T shirt patterns available on the internet


My last post was the start of my raglan sleeve T shirt reviews. I started with the free pattern from
http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2016/02/15/long-sleeve-raglan-sweatshirt-free-pattern.html
Which made me two very nice tops here: 25: Comparing the free raglan sleeved T shirt patterns available on the internet
I was really very impressed by these tops which is what caused me to decide to review the other free patterns for raglan sleeved tops available on the interenet.
So next I decided to try this one from the cutting floor:
http://www.onthecuttingfloor.com/free-sewing-pattern-long-sleeve-raglan-top/
Which I thought was a bit different since it has different sleeve tops to bottoms.

Well I put the pattern together and because www.onthecuttingfloor.com has been going for a long while now and also has patterns to buy, I assumed it would all be fine. I have used loads of different free patterns some hand-drawn and many that were made with one sort of software or another. Anyway this pattern did not work for me. Well yes I made a top but look at the next two photos:

 
 
I do not know if I put it together wrong or if it simply does not work right
but the bits just did not fit. I unpicked everything and sewed it all again after I had rechecked the pattern by repinning the pattern pieces onto my cut out fabric and everything seems ok. I looked at the tutorial on the www.onthecuttingfloor.com site. The bits simply do not fit together. It looks like it should be a polo neck rather than a normal raglan T shirt.

To make it work I had to hack off the extra neck fabric. I also decided the neck band which is given is far too small so cut a new one and added wrist edges to accent the sleeves. I also added a wider hem band.







In the end it does work - kind of. Its a boat neckline due to me hacking off the extra fabric which is wearable but not what I intended. I can wear it as you can see here but I am not impressed. The photos are not really very good and its hard to tell but, the top sleeve sections are a bit tight and it kind of reminds me of those weird tops you find in H&M. 
Needless to say I will not make this one again but I may try the original pattern available on the same site which has one colour sleeves since I wonder if it is me that put it together wrong. Who knows?
I might try a bought pattern for my next version.
Anyway I personally do not rate this pattern very highly at all.
Thanks for reading
Bracken

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this review. I was about to cut this pattern out and I'm so very glad I found this review before I did. I think I might spend the money and buy the relaxed raglan pattern by patterns for pirates instead of trying a free pattern.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Roxanne. Thank you for commenting.
      I myself found the free patterns very variable. I do have a favourite though from Its always autumn http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2016/02/15/long-sleeve-raglan-sweatshirt-free-pattern.html and it works well. You should look at the tutorial before cutting though because I did not for my first attempt. I used the tutorial for my second and third tops and it does help. I have used that pattern lots of times and even recently pattern hacked it into a colour blocked top. See this post for more info:
      68: Joe Browns inspired Upcycled tunic or top

      I have not tried any of the patterns for pirates but would be interested in how they turn out.

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