Vintage Sewing: Color Blocked Boat Neck Shirt

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Collage image of two different angles showing a woman wearing a color blocked boatneck shirt that is teal in the front and purple in the back

[living on the edge and maybe leaning juuuust a little]

Lately I have been obsessed with collecting vintage sewing patterns from thrift shops and matching them up with thrifted fabrics (often also vintage). Letting the availability of supplies at the thrift shop has led me to making some interesting things that I definitely wouldn't have done shopping a fully stocked craft store - but I mean that in the best possible way!

vintage sewing pattern from 1982

[let's hop in a fashion time machine!]

This shirt pattern from 1982 was super simple - even working slowly, I managed to complete the entire project in just a couple of hours. The construction consists of just two pieces, a front and back panel, with just a few seams and easy hems.

ribbed knit fabric in 2 colors, teal and purple

[my favorite colors so obvi I had to get these]

When I consulted my collection of thrifted fabrics, I thought the shirt would look cool in some nice ribbed knit that I picked up in two coordinating colors for $1 each. There wasn't quite enough of either to do the entire shirt in one color, so I decided to make it color blocked and do the front and back panels in different colors!

woman wearing a teal boat neck top and vintage pink beaded necklace standing in front of a wood paneled wall

[it goes nicely with my favorite glasses from Zenni (affiliate)]

This is a great example of a design decision that I made out of necessity to use the materials I've gathered from thrift shops that I wouldn't have made under other circumstances... but I love how it turned out!

I predict that this piece will get a TON of wear in my day-to-day wardrobe!