Break me of a piece of that...Candy-Theme T-Shirt!

When I think of candy, it has to be chocolate.  Well, it's not like I'd turn down any other candy, but still, chocolate is my preference.  So when I started thinking about this week's Project Run & Play theme, Candy, my mind went immediately to those fun-size Halloween bars.  And I got a visual for my project this week--layers of wafer wrapped in chocolate, with a red wrapper.  A Kit-Kat bar!

Since my daughter got my project from last week's theme, I knew I wanted to do something for my son, who just started kindergarten this week.  And having recently assessed his drawers, I found that the hole in his wardrobe currently is long-sleeved tees.  So between one of my old brown long-sleeved tees, a knit striped romper The Boy himself wore as a baby, and a little bit of red knit from a shirt that has been snipped into lots of different projects, I was able to make a cool, functional shirt that is just sweet enough to fit the candy theme.

When I started cutting my pattern pieces, I was surprised to learn that a women's size medium fitted tee is almost exactly the same width as a size 6 boys tee, in both the body and the sleeves.  Which was nice--saved me sewing some side seams!  I used the original hem on the body as well.  I started out using the original hem on the sleeves too, but they came out a little long and a little loose, so I ended up cutting off the original hems to add the red cuff, which I really like.  They're more fitted than the sleeve, so they keep the sleeves off his hands even though they are still long to allow for growth.

The obligatory jumping shot

Speaking of the sleeves, this was where I wanted to give that "kit-kat" look by layering in some striped fabric to represent the wafer layers with chocolate around it.  I hadn't quite decided on the placement of the stripes until I had the sleeves cut--then I thought it would be fun to make them asymmetrical.

Another accidental design element is the back.  When I cut out my pattern pieces (I started with the MADE basic tee but sized it up a bit), I cut front and back together and cut both pieces with the higher "back" neckline so I could lower the front one later.  Then not 10 seconds later, I went ahead and cut BOTH down to the front neckline!  D'oh!  Oh well--I re-cut the back pattern piece just for the top of the shirt out of my "wafer layer" striped accent fabric, and I think it was a perfect place to incorporate a little more of that stripe.

Oops--got a little overexposed so you can't see the stripes, but they're there.

I also cut out four strips of the striped fabric in slightly different lengths to make the raw-edge applique on the front of the shirt.  I wanted a nod to the kit-kat bar's four pieces while still looking like a cool design for a t-shirt.  I'm happy with it!  And the final kit-kat inspiration was using the red for the bindings, since kit-kat bars come in a red wrapper.

Details

I topstitched around the neckline using a double needle to keep some stretch in there, and I love how professional that finish looks.  I even got brave and did contrast stitching (verrrrry verrrry slowly so I didn't mess it up).

Contrast topstitching

I had to go for the built-in bribery factor for photographing a candy themed shirt.  How better to get the kiddo to pose nicely for me than to bring an edible prop to the photo shoot?

 

Of course, that meant I had to bribe a certain someone else to stay OUT of most of the photos...

But she was a good sport, and I ended up snapping a few fun ones of both kids together as long as we were in front of this cool painted wall!

All in all, I'm so happy because this is an awesome fall shirt that I would never have thought of without the inspiration from Project Run & Play.  Thanks guys!  Be sure to click over to see what everyone else is linking up in the sewalong, and here to vote for this round's competitors--they are so amazing!