Little Boy Muscle Tee

Ages ago I came across this muscle tee and fell in love with it. For some reason, little boys in muscle tees make me giggle. I think they look adorable.
I needed to make one for K. I figured I could use a (store-bought) muscle tee from last year as a pattern, but I was sorely mistaken. It hardly fit over his head and was way too short. Turns out, K has grown quite a bit in the past year.
At that point, I remembered that we had some tank top onesies that were given to us by one of Y's co-workers when K was born - they only now fit (size 95). For the record, the co-worker's girlfriend gave us a few outfits that fit when he was first born - men are funny.

I didn't want to make his new tee a onesie, so I traced the top and sides and then used a current t-shirt to decide the length.

From here, it was super easy. Cut out a front and a back on the fold and then sew the tops and sides together.

To make the top seam a bit stronger, I cut out a small rectangle to sew into the seam. I also sewed a second line at the top.

I always have issues sewing with knits (t-shirt material). Either the machine eats the starting point or the seams get wavy and weird. I worked out that if I have some way to support the fabric, this might not happen. I put tissue paper under the fabric and sewed right on top of it - worked like a charm! You do have to rip it out of the seams, which takes a tiny bit of time, but for me it was worth it.

Once the shirt was essentially made, I sewed knit bias tape (pre-made/store-bought) to the top and arm holes.

Since the tee is made of knit, the bottom doesn't need to be hemmed, but I did want it to look a bit more finished, so I cut a long rectangle of fabric and sewed it to the bottom with a double seam.

The final step was the pocket. It, also, was super easy. Just cut the shape, I folded the top over and finished with a seam, then hand-sewed it to the shirt, sides left unfinished.

I wanted the pocket stitches to look a bit messy, so as to add a bit of character.
I L-O-V-E how this turned out. I think it's absolutely adorable. K seemed quite chuffed with it as well. I put it on him before heading out for the day. I have no idea why, but he insisted on wearing his galoshes (it was a hot, sunny day) and Y's hat.

I knew the galoshes would be off within minutes of leaving the house (seriously, it was baking that day), and luckily brought a second pair of shoes along. Thank goodness.

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