New Pattern: Xanthea Zero Waste T-shirt

Hi Everyone, I have a new pattern: introducing Xanthea, a zero waste t-shirt.

It’s in my Etsy shop now; please enjoy 25% off for the next month.

The Xanthea t-shirt comes in nineteen sizes, to fit a 86cm/34″ bust to a 177cm/70″. The fit is loose and slightly boxy.

It’s designed for knit fabrics such as t-shirt knit, jersey and French terry. Knit fabric versions feature a zip in-seam pocket.

The pattern can also be made in wovens such as linen, tencel, viscose, lawn, chambray and boiled wool.

Included is a long sleeve option which isn’t zero waste; it’s low waste and designed to leave you with useable rectangular offcuts.

Xanthea has an unusual construction. The body hangs on the bias with an X-shaped seam across the front. The pattern comes with a little paper model to cut out and tape together to understand how the pattern is constructed:

I think I might have two world “firsts” with Xanthea. I believe this is the first modern zero waste sewing pattern to go up to a 177cm/70″ bust and the first to feature a plus-size model in the primary image.

Here’s a gallery of Xanthea tops:

This pattern sprang from an online zero waste workshop I attended which was hosted by Zero Waste Design Online. The presenter was Danielle Elsener (who you might remember developed a zero waste scrubs pattern last year). It was worth getting up at 3am for!

I find “everyday basics” such as t-shirts, jeans etc difficult to do zero waste, because there’s an expected outcome. In the workshop we walked through a design process to identify attributes of a t-shirt, which ultimately resulted in a design brief to make something that’s recognizable to anyone as a t-shirt. The process could apply to any item.

Cheers!

UPDATE: see this pattern in stripes and as a fleecy top.