Refashioned Raglans

I've been on the lookout for a raglan shirt pattern I love. Not actively looking, mind you, just keeping my eyes open for a raglan T-shirt pattern I like the shaping of. Something that would be a good base pattern for any kind of pattern hack or alteration I might want to do to a raglan shirt in the future.

I have a dolman-sleeve shirt pattern like this - the one I drafted based on a T-shirt I bought over two years ago and have been using and refining ever since (I've used this pattern 8 times so far). I also have a set-in sleeve knit top pattern like this - the Outer Banks Boat Neck by Winter Wear Designs, which I've made 7 times so far. Thus, all I need to round-out my collection of basic knit top patterns is a raglan sleeve pattern I love as much as the other two.

I've slowly been collecting raglan patterns for a while, and now it's time to actually try them out. Time to see if any of my amassed raglan patterns have the potential to be just what I'm looking for, or if I need to keep searching.

I started the trying out of the raglan patterns with my newest acquisition and a bin of "clothes to be refashioned".

This is the "Going Home Sweater" from Ellie and Mac patterns. A couple of weeks ago it was on sale for a day for only $1. I decided, for a dollar, this raglan pattern was worth trying out. So I bought it, printed it out, taped it together then began looking through my fabric stash for materials to make it from.

It also happened to be "upcycle week" in the 52 Week Sewing Challenge Facebook group so I decided I'd use that as my theme to pick fabrics for this project. Thus, the first thing I did was dig through the refashion bin on my fabric shelves.

I unearthed a cardigan I thrifted several years ago. The cardigan never fit me, but I loved the green and tan chevron fabric it was made from.

Once disassembled the cardigan yielded just enough fabric for a set of 3/4 length raglan things and a short cowl neck.

I paired the fabric harvested from the cardigan with a green jersey I discovered in a box of fabric I inherited from a church basement. I used the green for the body of the raglan and wound up with a shirt I really love!

Since I liked how the first rendition of of this pattern turned out, I went ahead and made a second one real quick.

This time, for the front panel of the shirt, I used a very colorful shirred shirt I thrifted once upon a time. I loved all the colors in the shirt and wore it plenty, but it never fit quite right, so last summer I finally retired it from my closet.

The front of the shirt was full of holes from where it had rubbed against my belt buckle, but the back was still in good shape so I used that for the front of my new raglan.

Unfortunately there were a couple of small holes near the top of the panel, so I concealed those in small, decorative, darts at the neckline.

They're barely visible when the shirt is worn, but if you do notice the darts, they just look like a design feature rather than concealed holes.

I used matching gray rayon/spandex jersey for the back of the shirt and the sleeves. I like this second shirt just as much as the first - maybe more, because I really needed more long sleeve shirts in my closet!

So the real question is, will this become my go-to raglan shirt pattern?

Honestly, probably not. I like this pattern, and will definitely use it again, but it doesn't have quite the fit and shape I'm looking for. I've still got a couple more patterns I want to try in my search for the perfect raglan for me!