The front and back work on shirt 1. I got a really good color match on this one. The front work is close to where the backpack strap goes. There will probably be test fit later. 🤞
Commencing on shirt 2.
The damage is more structural with this one, the one hole is at the shoulder and cuts 2 seam lines. The ball point pins came out because getting the shoulder to lie flat in the embroidery hoop was going poorly. And keeping the strain on the knit fabric as even and gentle as possible matters. This cut crosses over where the backpack strap will lie, making it even more important.
There are 3 different threads in use for basting: the remnants of the earlier work at the neck, a darker shade, and the darkest, which looks like the best match: "Tree Bark" polyester thread. I basted the shoulder seam line straight before beginning to stabilizer the rest. Then I basted down the point of the cut to nest into itself.
The cut line is not only long, it also curves. At the end I will remove all of the basting that is not covered by the repair stitches.