Trying a free t-shirt pattern: Deer and Doe Plantain

I am looking for the perfect tee pattern! I had always heard good things about the Deer and Doe Plantain.

My procrastination gets in the way of quests like these, so I had actually printed this pattern at least 5 years ago but never sewed it up. The nice folks at Deer and Doe have since updated the pattern, but in the interest of saving paper, I sewed the original version with a lycra knit I’d gotten from Fabric Mart a couple of years ago.

It went together very easily, especially the handy way the sleeves are set in. I liked the length and the ease, but it was a bit big on me in the shoulders, so I graded down a couple of sizes in the neck and shoulder and tried again:

This knit, also from FM, is thinner and more finicky and might have turned out better with a serger. But it’s quite wearable. Is it the perfect t-shirt? Perhaps not. Or maybe I need to reprint and re-tape. In the meantime, I have others to try…