If you’ve been reading my blog for a while (and for longer in its previous incarnation), you’ll know I’m a fan of the Grainline Scout Tee. I’ve made it 4 times already (1, 2 & 3, 4), and I’m sure I’ll make some more in the future – definitely out of one of the skirts I got from the Fara Workshop. So when a friend of mine gave me some of her fabric stash and it included some cotton with tiny strawberries on it, I knew I was going to make it into something for my other friend (we’re a gang of 3) because she loves strawberries and anything with strawberries on! I made her a strawberry tea cosy one year.  It’s her birthday in August (yes, I’m that behind in blogging projects!) and she had a dinner party, to which I turned up fashionably late!

I decided to cut a size bigger than I make for myself and it turned out quite big. I’m not sure why I went up a size, really – my friends and I are all about the same size, but I thought she likes her tops quite loose fitting. I had to underline the cotton as it was quite thin – I used the same old sheet that I used on my first Laurel dress. I also used all French seams on the inside to make it look all lovely.

This is a close-up of the cute fabric. Instead of using the pattern piece for the neck binding included with the fabric, I used some red bias binding I had in my stash to line the neck and sleeves on the outside. I almost had enough to do the bottom too, but was short by about an inch! I think that was lucky, though, because it might have been a bit much with all that red binding!

Look at that top-stitching! Is anyone else stupidly pleased when they manage to sew something really neatly?

My friend really like the t shirt – I hope she’s got some wear out of it! Maybe more in the Summer….. Do you like making presents for friends? I know Miss Crayola Creepy wrote about this recently – do you have any thoughts? I like making things for friends I know will appreciate it, which often means they do the craft themselves/ know how much work goes into making something as opposed to buying it. I’d love to know your thoughts/ experiences.