TShirt taking forever

Hi Ive been making a tshirt for about two weeks and its beginning to drive me insane. Its almost done apart from the fact that it still looks unreal. I thought it would help if I
draw a ribbed collar and sleeves but Ive had no sucess doing that as it just looks terrible and erm well drawn on!! If I leave the Tshirt as it the collar just looks all jaggedy, how can I get round this and make it look more life like. I have done shading and creases on the front and back of the tshirt which helps but i just cant get the collar and arms right...any suggestions greatly appreciated! Oh and I attached a pic of what i mean!

Search this forum for Robin Sojourner's T-shirt template, and take a good look at it. Of course YOUR T-shirt doesn't have to look exactly like Robin's example, but examining hers will probably help you solve most of your problems.

For starters, pay close attention to how she was careful to follow the UV's of the avatar model in her seams and edges.

You might also want to upload the templates as textures, and wear them on an avatar to see exactly how the UV lines wrap in 3D space. Some of the polygons get much bigger than they appear on the 2D templates, some get much smaller, some change shape dramatically, and some remain more or less unchanged. Knowing which is which can be all the difference between a realistic looking garment, and a Picasso on crack.

Should i be using the pen tool to draw a path for the collar rather than trying to draw it on with a paintbrush? Im pretty new to photoshop so Im learning as i go along really.

I know that its all the little details that make clothes look real in sl and I just want my T Shirt to look a bit more realistic, ive figured out shading and highlights but this is the final stumbling block for me.

I use the pen tool to do all my outlining. I find the lines are much easier to manipulate than trying to draw a straight/curved line with a paint brush.

I use the pen tool for collars and other bits and pieces. I find the accuracy is better, and it's also easier to correct.

For the "inside" of the collar, I use the "stroke path" function, with a brush that looks like a tiny section of the collar (you know, the ribs ?)... I'm sorry, I'm aware my explanation isn't all that clear I know how to do it, but am not proficient enough yet to be able to explain it.

Thanks for the advice Raindrop, I used the pen tool and managed to draw a path then converted it to a selection and filled it, but it still looks a bit ....well naff

Ive been through my brushes and cant find anything that would even resemble a bit of ribbing for stroking the path.......I think I understood wot u meant. Im also trying to do that bit of shading under the bottom of the tee shirt. U know wot i mean?? looks like a bit of shadow on the skin under the bottom of the tshirt, well ive drawn a line with a soft brush and blurred it and it kinda looks ok but wot i dont get is how to make that part of my alpha now because the magic wand doesnt want to select it arggggggg.....and i thought a tshirt would be an easy thing to get me started on the road to making clothes sheeze!!! But thanks to all the help and advice on this forum i am beginning to get somewhere i think

Personally as a fellow newbie, I've found the issue of getting smooth seams and edges to be the most difficult. As people have said, just because it's smooth on the 2D template, doesn't mean it will be smooth in 3D, due to the way the polygons are arranged.

For me the only way I found that would give me acceptable results was to draw the profile in as a vector curve and then smooth it through itteration and use of the clothes previewer found here:

/109/47/141938/1.html

With a lot of itterations I was able to get rid of the worst problems.