Long Helix Tee

I lengthened this one 3″ and used two colors of the Alabama Chanin organic cotton jersey in white and natural. Plus I used the embroidery floss to hand stitch some parallel lines of diagonal running stitch embellishment along the lower right front.

This Helix is lengthened 1 ½″ and is made using the grape organic cotton jersey. Running stitches, also in cotton embroidery floss, outline the diagonal seams in the front and back.

So this is what you will do to your pattern.

1. Start by extending the diagonal straight of grain line.





2. Cut the pattern apart along the lengthen and shorten line. Tape a strip of pattern paper to the bottom of the the upper part of the pattern. Extend the grainline through the added paper.





3. Measure down from that cut line the distance you want to lengthen and draw a line parallel to the lengthening line. In this case, I drew a line 3″ below the lengthen and shorten line.





4. Place the lower part of the pattern that you cut off back onto the added pattern paper, matching the extended grainline and the new parallel line.

5. Reconnect the "side" seam lines. The left seam will probably match.

6. The right seam will be offset. Start at the bottom of your size and blend the line back into your size above the lengthening area at approximately Notch 3.

7. It is important to remember that the lengthening is parallel to the lengthen and shorten line and has no relationship to the length that the grainline has been extended. The length of the grainline will be different.

8. Oh, and the cowl! I measured the circumference of the neck along the seamline and added two seam allowances. I used the width of the cowl from the Alex Top pattern. For a size medium, I cut a rectangle 13″ x 23 ¾″. I sewed the short ends together, folded the cowl in half lengthwise and sewed it to the neck on the 5/8" seamline. Then I serged the raw edges together using a 3-thread stitch formation