Pinterest Inspired Union St. Tee

Wardrobe planning is one of my favorite pastimes. I love clothes and I love sewing, but I'm not always the best at styling or putting outfits together. Pinterest is indispensable to me when it comes to that kind of thing. I'm very visual and I often need to see an outfit to "get" it. No matter what kind of outfits I browse, it seems like there is one wardrobe staple that shows up regularly: the black and white striped t-shirt.

How many striped tees do you see?

I'm not quite sure how it's possible, but I did not own one of these shirts! I've been keeping my eye out for just the right fabric and finally found what I wanted at Urban Rag Trader on Etsy. This lightweight jersey is actually a deep navy and white stripe, and the small scale stripe is perfect.

This was sort of a back-burner project because I didn't know what pattern I wanted to use. I was thinking Renfrew, but didn't want to mess with bands. Then I remembered that I have the Hey June Union St. Tee, the world's most basic t-shirt pattern (how could I forget?). I made one previously, but it was a thick sweatshirt. I carefully studied the photos on the Hey June website and found one version that was a size up (on Adrianna) and had the slouchy look I wanted for my tee. She actually had a blog post showing the same pattern in three different sizes on her, which was helpful.

I interfaced the point of the V before adding the band

I decided that I did want the bust to fit, so I started with a Small and added a random amount of width through the waist and down to the hem. It's probably close to a Medium. To keep the shirt feminine I made the V-neck. The pattern had options for a thick neckband or a thin one, this is the thick. I think it's kind of different and makes the shirt a little more interesting. I used a black cotton/Lycra for the band.

I am absolutely in love with how this turned out! The jersey is well-suited to the pattern (I think it might be a rayon blend), the extra volume I added hides my mommy tummy but without making me look pregnant. I initially wore this out to dinner for my husband's birthday, and then again the next day for a picnic and geocaching at the park. It worked in both settings!

Action shot...hot and sweaty geocaching

To dinner, I wore it with skinny jeans, but here I'm wearing it with a pair of army green shorts that used to be capris. Cargo capris, to be exact. They were hideous and unflattering and I've had them for a gazillion years, but I couldn't make myself throw them away. I'm so glad I hung onto them, because cut and hemmed they make great shorts! 

I'm now eyeballing every one yard cut of jersey that's hanging out in my stash and plotting more t-shirts. Have you tried this pattern? I can't believe I waited so long to properly use it!

Update July 2017: This post contains affiliate links. Text of the original post remains the same!