lately i’ve been calling the Boxy Tee / Drapey Tunic pattern my “desert island pattern”. if i could only have one pattern to play with for the rest of my life, or only teach people how to draft one pattern, this is The One. of all the patterns i teach (shift dress, T-shirt, lounge pants, leggings, skirt, shirt/jacket) the Boxy is the simplest, yet most versatile. you can make it into a top, tunic or dress, of course. but you can also make it into a sweatshirt, quilted coat, collared button down shirt, hoodie, cardigan, shawl-collared jacket… and that is still really only scratching the surface!
i just looked it up, and i first wrote the Boxy Tee tutorial on A Verb for Keeping Warm’s website back in 2016. wow! i had no idea it had been nearly 8 years since i started teaching and making this wonder garment! it was Kristine’s idea that i come up with a simple top pattern, made to use up smaller pieces of special fabrics, like hand-dyed or bundle-printed samples from classes and experiments, which spoke to my scrappy heart! she sent me some indigo-dyed pieces and i made the shirt you see above: my very first-ever Boxy Tee.
there’s a long list of reasons to love this pattern:
— simplicity: easy to draft, easy to sew, easy to fit. all you need is the one pattern piece!
— all-in-one sleeve: no need to fuss with an armhole and sleeve cap, which for many is an obstacle in both the drafting and the sewing. this built-in or “cut-on” sleeve is automatically a short sleeve, and a simple extension piece makes it a long sleeve.
— versatility: as mentioned above, it can become almost anything! there’s a version (or ten) to suit every style. it’s truly an enigma!
— gateway pattern: it makes a fantastic first pattern to learn how to draft, because it’s so quick and simple. it’s about as close as you can get to *instant gratification* in garment sewing!
— efficient yardage: the one-piece construction means you can whip out a top in one yard or less.
— hackability: the simplicity of this pattern means it’s an ideal *blank canvas* to use as a starting point for all sorts of pattern or surface manipulation: piecing, pleating, applique, quilting, tucking, stitching, dyeing…
the Boxy / Drapey has become the foundation for several classes i teach, in addition to the drafting and sewing. we use it in both of my hand-sewn shirt classes, the simple and deluxe versions. and it’s also the pattern used in my Hack It! class, as well as my new collaborative class with Katherine Ferrier, Piece Out. but the original class, in which you learn to draft the pattern, fit and sew a garment from it, is probably my most popular class to date. i love teaching it in various formats; it fits well into one day, but as a 2 or even 3-day workshop, we can play with some of the many hacking possibilities.
i’ll be traveling to teach Boxy Tee/Drapey Tunic a few times this year, here’s a list:
April 7 — one-day (in-person) workshop at Katherine Ferrier’s studio (2 SPOTS LEFT!) in Rockland, ME
May 20 — one-day (in-person) workshop at Make It Sew in Lexington, VA (followed by Leggings the next day! make a weekend of it!)
June 9 — one-day (in-person) workshop at Beetle & Fred in Beacon, NY
June 12-16 — part of my 5-day (in-person) Make Your Own Wardrobe WOVENS WEEK at Harrisville Designs in Harrisville, NH
June 22-25 — three-day (in-person) workshop at the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association Conference in Millersville, PA
September 27-October 1 — four-day (in-person) Design Your Own Wardrobe: Boxy Top & Lounge Pants at Snow Farm in Williamsburg, MA
i’d LOVE to see you in person at one of these! but if that’s just not in the cards, you can always learn with my video class on drafting and sewing the Boxy Tee over on Creativebug.
