The Sew and Tell Project

Celebrating the release and blog tour of the Fighter Tee is very special for me. For one reason, it is a pattern designed and written by my friend Kelly of Handmade Boy and drafted by the generous Tami from Love Notions Patterns. For another reason, I have always had great respect for Kelly and the welcoming voice she is in the sewing blog community. Kelly usually has my YES before she even asks. Kelly has asked me to participate in something important – and my yes is resounding.

100% of proceeds from the sales of this PDF pattern go directly to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital is committed to treating children with fatal and catastrophic illnesses at no cost to their families. This is an officially-approved fundraiser for them. If you do not sew, you can give directly through Kelly’s fundraising link right here. In all her “spare” time from designing and testing this pattern, Kelly has also managed to train for a relay run as part of her fundraiser. (Seriously, how does she do it?)

Without further ado, here is the scoop on this relaxed fit, unisex tee for a great cause!

The Fighter Tee is drafted in sizes 2-12. It has a relaxed fit, perfect for boys and girls. I love the color blocking on the side seams to use up knit scraps and add some visual interest. My oldest daughter really wanted a tee shirt in her team colors, so it was easy to grab some of my cotton lycra solids to make her some team gear. The color blocked front is perfect for using a custom knit panel. I have been on a vinyl cutting kick lately so I found a cute basketball graphic on etsy to put on the shirt!

My daughter is very long and lean but has broad shoulders. Usually I blend sizes for the perfect fit. Since I wanted her to be able to layer this over her jersey or a tank for practice, I went ahead and sewed a straight size 12 for her. I took it in a little bit at the side seams for a more fitted look. She is at an awkward stage where she is very slender, but most of the tee shirts from camps and practice only come in straight adult sizes that she is swimming in, or in youth sizes that end up too short. I’m happy that I can start adding some more comfy play clothes without sacrificing fit.

My only regret I had when sewing this was that I always forget that this particular charcoal cotton Lycra is thicker and has overkill recovery. I wish I had lengthened the neck band an extra inch because it did pucker a bit at the neckline. But the Fighter Tee is so quick, I’m sure I’ll have a stack of them with even more fun HTV by the end of this summer.

Make sure you visit all the other fabulous participants on this tour and check out their takes and inspirations from the Fighter Tee.  Most importantly, I wanted to give one more thanks to Kelly for her fundraising initiative and to Tami who donated her time in drafting this pattern for the fundraiser.

Monday: The Wholesome Mama, My Creative Room, Wild & Wanderful

Tuesday: Doodle Number 5, A Jennuine Life, Sew Sophie Lynn