I’ve been planning this shirt for a few weeks, but it was serendipitous that I already had the perfect fabric in my stash – some leftover black bamboo jersey from Fabrics Galore. The 2.5m I bought ended up making my Paris Sucks Versatili-Tank, the Dead Inside tank for my friend AND this tee! So it was excellent value on top of being perfectly soft, and somewhere between a viscose and cotton jersey in terms of weight and drape.
This time around, I printed off a Loose Fitting Top Block from “Sew Your Own Activewear” in size XL (shortened a bit to match the length of the Versatili-Tops, which I prefer). I’d have made a Versatili-Tee again but I knew I wanted wide writing on the back and didn’t want the back seams interfering with the vinyl.
The vinyl designs are all from the set of The Vampire Lestat (Interview with the Vampire season 3’s new show name!) that’s filming right now. In this, Lestat is now a rock star (and, err, things are not going so well!), and “fans” going to his gigs are wearing teeshirts with this hand motif on the front (along with a second shirt you’ll see soon). These shirts were also seen on the merch table in the recently released Behind the Scenes featurette!
I love that it’s hand symbols for “rock n roll”/”devil’s horns” (depending on your interpretation) and the British sign for “fuck off”. And with the pointy vampire nails… Like, HOW PERFECT for Lestat!
I added a little VL symbol to the left sleeve, too…
The writing on the back is taken from Lestat’s tour bus, which was also seen on set, and in the new trailer shown at San Diego Comic Con recently. Nobody knows exactly what these three lines are but my best guess is that they’re song lyrics for some of the SIXTEEN SONGS they’ve written for the season (with an actual musician who once toured with David Bowie and used to be in The Polyphonic Spree, so I’ve got high hopes for the music).
I used my trusty Silhouette machine to cut all of these again, but this is a new HTV supplier for me! I wasn’t happy with the previous plain white brand I was using, but this is much better to cut, weed AND apply. And is slightly glossy too!
I love this design and the new vibe for the new show/season!! How am I possibly going to wait until 2026 for this?? (Though I guess I’ve already waited 30 years – what’s another few months?)