DIY Chevron on Vogue 8771 Dolman Tee

I leave my laundry mountain in the photo to make you feel better. You're welcome.

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, which meant my four-year-old had the day off pre-K. When my big plans to hit up a museum were dashed because she wasn't feeling well enough to leave the apartment, I decided to enlist some old-fashioned child labour in creating the above Dolman-sleeved sweatshirt, sewn from Vogue 8771. (I'm wearing it as I type this, but have no pics of me in it, because my photographer got a real job and is now gone during all daylight hours. It's just as well because I have a few fit issues I will need to correct before I sew this again — which I will.)

Here's the line drawing, on top of which I photoshopped a chevron design for inspiration. (Are we still into chevrons, people? I'm digging it. I'm also still really into Vampire Weekend.)

You can see from the top photo that in the end I opted not to make the long sleeves. I put it on midway, and it just seemed like it would be too hot and constricting for me. NYC apartments are overheated, ya'll. I also cut off the bottom asymmetrical hem because it went a little low over my booty and was a little tight on my hips. 

I have this box of fabric paint a former neighbor passed on to me a few years back, and it just keeps coming in handy. All I needed for this project was a ruler, sponge, and some tape (I would have preferred masking tape, but you can see here all I had was packing tape. It worked fine). 

First I marked center front on the top and bottom using pins. Then I used a strip of tape to create a straight line down the center. Then, using my picture for a guide, I used the tape to mark off my stripes. The stripes are 2 inches wide, while the "white space" between them is 2 &1/4 inches.

After I had one side perfectly spaced, I used a pencil to mark a straight line up the center front of the tape, and cut away the piece I had used to mark it. There's possibly an easier way to do this. It's probably been done before. But it worked. So why are you arguing with me? Go to your room.

Then I taped off the other side of the chevrons, again using my ruler to make sure my spacing was as exact as I have the patience for. It should be noted this little stinker here was helping me the whole way:

Then we sponge-painted the stripes, first with a chartreuse color I mixed up, and then adding black to the mix with each stripe to achieve a cool reverse ombre effect. Or something like that. We did our best:

I know what you're thinking: there's paint on your floor. It's cool. It comes off. Also, I needed the tape to hold the shirt panel down, and I couldn't think of a better way:

After it dried, I sewed the shirt, which took me about 20 minutes. That's how quick it was. I won't show you how to do that, because if you have the pattern, you have the instructions.

Ok, fine. Here's a pic of me in it. A four-year-old took it. Can you tell:

It was a bit of an experiment, and not a bad way to pass the afternoon indoors with a slightly sick kid. (We also baked a chocolate cake, to celebrate Ryan's good fortune). As I said before, I have some fit issues to clear up because this top looks a lot better on my dressform than on myself. But that's for another day — and another post.