A Return to Sewing: Black Twentyone Copycat Shirt

My sister loves her back shirt with the "twentyone" label.  It is simple, drapey, comfy... what's not to love?  However, like a lot of clothing these days, it hasn't stood well to wear and now is getting holes and tears.  She is so in love with the style, she asked me to copy it for her.  I decided to make it out of a slightly thicker, but still drapey, rayon knit fabric.  Hopefully this will stand up to a bit more wear, and she already claims it is more soft and comfortable than the original.

Basically to copy the pattern I literally traced the shirt, since the design is so simple.  Originally, mine was a bit big (I think the extra weight of the fabric stretched the neck open more), so I had to modify and make it a bit smaller with a few tucks in the back and one in the front.  Overall though, it looks a lot like the original.

The back - you can see my tucks at the neck.

The front.

From the side.  It is a true black, so the color in this picture is the closest to reality.

Overall, I am pleased because my sister is pleased, but also because this only took a few hours to make, from creating the pattern to finished product, and I am by no means a fast sewer.

What I am not pleased about: it broke my twin needle.  I only had one, so I had to very carefully hem the other sleeve.  Apparently the piece that holds the needle had come lose on my machine, causing the needle to hit the throat plate at an angle and snap.  I was able to re-screw the needle holding piece back on.  Hopefully it stays.  Hopefully I won't be needing a new machine soon.  What with the new skate parts, I really don't think I could afford one for a few months, and I really don't want to live without sewing that long (although I suppose I would get a lot of pattern tracing accomplished...).  In any case, it seems to be sewing alright now.  We will see how it goes this week.