A mid-winter tank

We ave been having a heat wave here. Are you enjoying this, too? For about a week and a half, it has been at least 60 degrees. Now, we're into the 70s, and in the next day or two, 80s! I know, I know, I'm blathering on about the weather and you're thinking, why do I care what the weather's like there? You probably don't. But it's SUMMER in the winter! It's literally my dream come true.

And so, this tank top is totally appropriate sewing for March. That's the bottom line.

 

It started as this pretty polyester fabric, the same one I used for my infinity scarf. I saw it made into a maxi dress at the fabric store and just loved it. I thought about turning it into a skirt, but I also wanted to try something new. Enter, tank!


 I don't have photos of the process, sorry. I used Anna's "Sewing with knits" tank tutorial as a guide. A tank on hand with a similar shape served as my pattern. I tried my best to match the pattern up on the sides, and honestly, it turned out really well. It's worth the time to try and get that one right!

After that, it was fairly straight-forward except for two things. My needle broke on my very first stitch, which seemed like an ominous sign. And I burned a hole in my fabric with my iron. Oh yes! I did! I didn't realize it was polyester until I heard the sizzle. The hole was on the back near the top. I thought the entire thing was ruined, and then, light bulb! Darts! Darts can save the day! And so, if you look back at the top back, you'll see two darts coming now from the neckline. They make the tank slightly more racer-backish, which I like.

The whole thing only took about an hour. I left the hem untouched. The bias tape closures for the neck and holes was the most time consuming part. When you add them, you cut the strips to about 75 percent of the area they're covering and have to stretch them a bit to fit. It's a little tricky. When I can I leave myself more bias trim and then trim it to fit near the end.

All in all, for an intermediate sewer, someone who is a bit familiar with knits, it's not a hard project at all.

I'm getting lazy with my self-portraits. One of the things about making something to wear -- it's funny when no one notices it. Is that good or bad? They think it is a run-of-the-mill store-bought item, I'd guess. So do you focus more on the fact that they think it is run-of-the-mill or that they think it is something mass produced? I guess I will leave you with that deep thought for the day.