Tank Tops

This is another round-up post showing some more of the garments that I have made whilst learning to use my coverstitch machine.


First up, a self-drafted tank top.  The main fabric is a cotton knit that I originally bought for my daughter but then decided to keep for myself.  I was so busy matching stripes that I did not notice that I cut 2 fronts instead of a front and back.  I guess if ever there is a garment where you can get away with 2 fronts, it is a tank top... lucky for me.

The edge fabric is a viscose.  It was very smooth and heavy and I could not get it to work in my binder because it kept slipping down.  Instead, I just attached it with my overlocker, though I did use the coverstitch machine to topstitch the armholes.  I didn't buy the topstitching foot, as I didn't think I would use it much, but it turns out that I am topstitching a lot.

My daughter didn't totally miss out as I combined the leftover stripy fabric with leftovers from my Style Arc Lisa top to make her a set of play clothes / pyjamas.  The top pattern is from "Sewing Clothes Kids Love" and the shorts are self drafted.

This project was a real test for me.  I did not have the opportunity to test different machines before buying mine and was very reliant on google research.  I was very much swayed by the beautiful quality of Belinda's work.  Belinda takes a lot of care with her sewing and I had a little niggle in the back of my mind...what if the machine is no good?  What if only Belinda can get those results?  This little set was sewn late at night...a little slapdash...no practise samples, no pressing, no measuring of hem turn-up...just sew and go...and......it all turned out okay

I used the binder for the purple edge.  The orange edge was just folded by hand and topstitched with the coverstitch machine.

Look what a nice job it does of applying waistband elastic.  I did use the overlocker to attach the elastic before turning it under.  The coverstitch manual suggests that I should be able to sew in elastic without first attaching, but I did not know if I would have sufficient control to do this when the elastic had to stretch quite a bit..

Next up was a racerback tank.  I used Jalie 2565, although I lowered the front neckline a fair bit and reduced the cut in of the racer back.  You may wonder why I would sew this when they are cheap to buy...but I do like sewing my own clothes and every time I buy one of these the bottom rolls up because it has to stretch out too much over my hips.

I didn't take a photo of the binding, but it is very neat.

I used the same pattern and fabric to make one for my duaghter.  For hers, I used leftover binding strips from my top.  They had been cut the day before and started to curl up so were not as easy to apply. 

Then I got a bit more adventurous with the binding and made a camisole using Jalie 2564 and the leftovers from my Donna Karan top.

Neat binding again.  I looove this machine.

From the scraps of the scrap garment I made my daughter some dance shorts using Jalie 3022.  I have made this pattern a number of times and always have trouble getting the waistband neat.  For the pink pair, I folded the waistband over the elastic and topstitched in place with a coverstitch....only I did it inside out.  Never mind.  Practice makes perfect and she loves all the shorts that I have made from this pattern so there will be plenty more opportunities to get it right.