If you know me, you've probably heard the story, I was about 23 years old and convinced this boy was going to dump me. Out of ways to keep him, my last hope was to casually psychologically trick him into thinking he needed me, by wearing a yellow vest top to what I feared would be our last date. Maybe something in his brain would associate me with yellow and yellow to happiness and sunrays, and in turn he would feel like I was a positive influence on his life.
Mental. I know it was mental, but that was 100% my thought process, and in the grand scheme of things probably the most gentle form of attempted manipulation that has ever existed. And you know what, he didn't dump me that day... He waited til the next date when I was wearing a houndstooth jumper and he remembered who I really was. Well, his loss eh, but the point I'm making, is that I have always been interested in colour psychologies. I remember once painting my nails green when I thought I was going to bump into an ex because google said it was the colour of Peace, and when the red underwear comes out you know I'm hoping it's going to be a good night. I'm still working hard on my fantasy to own a home with a yellow front door to match my little yellow car, to get home from work and feel happiness as I step through that door.
When winter rolls around you forget the smell of suncream and the feeling of sun on your skin. Everything is grey and bleak and it can be hard to snap yourself out of that depressing miasma. So I thought I would play the colour psychology game on myself.
By now you understand that I love the colour yellow, but It doesn't really feature too much in my wardrobe for fear of it making my skin look a bit of a funny colour. I had this yellow t-shirt jersey left over in my stash for a couple of years now. I've come close to chucking it twice but just haven't been able to. There wasn't a lot, but with a bit of careful pattern placement I thought I would be able to squeeze out a Simple Sew Miranda Tshirt - a quick and easy make to keep my creative juices flowing, in super bright yellow to lift my spirits. Win win.
For my previous Miranda t-Shirts I have used the smallest pattern size, but also taken a little more out of the side seams when it came to trying on. Due to fabric restrictions I knew I couldn't afford to mess about and would have to cut the right size the first time using as little fabric as possible. This meant working out the length of the t-shirt and sleeves before cutting out, and working out how much excess to take from the side seams without a chance to try on first. My yellow fabric was very stretchy so I knew I could get away with making the pattern a bit smaller.
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Also I wanted to make a higher, rounder neckline (much safer than trying to get that chuffing V neck central haha!), so this meant that the neckband could be shorter.
I pinned the shoulders and side seams together after cutting out for trying on. I was super happy with the fit and found I could still take a little out of the side seams at the under arms to the waist just to make it a little tighter around the bust.
The fabric behaved well with ballpoint needles and didn't stretch out too crazy while sewing. I didn't have any clear elastic to add to the shoulder seams, but I'd been reading up on it and it's important to add a little stability to them (to stop your shoulders stretching out... Who'd have guessed?!). I had read that using a strip of non stretch interfacing can work too- just be careful not to use anything to thick to ensure there is no unnecessary bulk in the shoulders.
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To ensure I made the neckband the right size it was a process of trial and error. I'd read a good starting point is to make the band 20% smaller than the neck hole and work from there. I pinned the neckband on at 20% smaller and it was still a bit loose. I think I took out a further 3-4cm before it lay flat. Any more and it would have definitely caused the shirt to pucker, so I'm glad I stitched when I did.
I used a twin ball point needle to hem the tshirt and the sleeves, making a 1.3(?) cm double hem around the bottom. It looked really neat! And the stitches still had the perfect amount of stretch to match the fabric... No thread popping when I lift this one over my head :)
I'm really pleased with my tshirt. It's everything I wanted it to be - comfortable, well-fitted, bright, a quick win and will go with pretty much every black/dark skirt/trousers that I own! I'm noticeably happier when I'm wearing it... So there's no need to assume I'm about to get dumped if you catch me out and about in it! ;)
What are your favourite colours to wear? Do you believe in colour psychology? Would love to hear about other people's relationships with colour
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Location: Plum Lane Car Park, Sheffield
Currently listening to: Misbehave, High Hazels
