Hemlock Tee in Woven Stripes

Occasionally I get questions about making the Hemlock Tee in woven fabrics so I thought my latest blog collaboration with Britex Fabrics would be a perfect time to showcase that yes, it is possible!

The fabric I used for this project is this large print, super graphic, black and white striped silk and my goal was to make use of the border print nature in a non-typical way. I wish I’d taken a photo of this fabric before I cut into it to show you more what the print looks like, but the large, even stripes I used for the sleeve ran down one half of the fabric, and the section I used for the body of this shirt ran down the other half. This print definitely is an easy choice for a something like a maxi skirt, but I really wanted to get a bit more creative and also make something a little easier to wear in fall. Also you guys know me, maxi skirts aren't really my jam...

Like I mentioned above, I used the Hemlock Tee pattern which was released last fall. The pattern is written for knits but since it’s oversized it works just as well in a drapey woven like this one. Since the print was so large, I cropped the length of the body by about 8” so I didn’t run the risk of having it overwhelm me. The other reason I cropped this top is so that I could match the stripes at the side seams. Since this print is so large and the section I was using for the body only ran down one side of the fabric I needed a lot more fabric than you would think in order to get a match. Cropping the top was one way to make this happen much more easily.

The shirt was sewn according to the directions used for the original Hemlock Tee with the exception of the neckline which I finished with bias binding which I made from the larger striped section of the print. So if you've wondered about making the Hemlock in a print, or even if you haven't, hope this gives you some ideas!