Vogue 9258 loose tank top, twice

It is so long since I made up a Vogue pattern, but Vogue was my original pattern crush, and even holding the paper packet in my hands sparks a glimmer of excitement to this day.  I still buy the designer Vogue patterns, but I rarely make them up because I don't really have a designer Vogue lifestyle.  Very Easy Vogue is more where I am at.

Vogue 9258 is a simple tank top, but the diagonal seam lines, front and back, and flared design really appealed to me.

My first version was made from two white remnants, both from Tessuti.  Well, one was a remnant when I bought it, but the other was leftover from a top my daughter sewed herself in the holidays.

I thought those seam lines were just screaming out for some entre-deux.  I used the selvedge of one of the fabrics to hem the top. 

The fabric used for the side panels was a cotton voile, with a textured dot.  It seemed a bit lightweight for the other fabric.  I looked through some other white fabrics, but I liked the texture of the dots.  One of my other fabrics was a double gauze, which gave me the idea to quilt the Swiss dot voile to a piece of linen.  It doesn't really show up in the photos, but I quilted the two fabrics together in vertical rows at about 5 cm intervals.  

You can see the dart in the front panel.

I made a few fitting changes when I traced off the pattern.  As I traced the pattern, I reduced the seam allowance for the binding down from 15 mm to 6 mm.  I didn't take any of the seam allowance off below the underarm, which effectively raised the underarm by about 1 cm.  The underarm is still on the low side.  I squared the shoulder seam a little.  I made a narrow chest adjustment.  I added to the width of the back by sewing the seam of the diagonal back seams at 6 mm instead of 15 mm.  It seemed easier to sew a Size 12 with a broad back adjustment than a Sz 14 with a small bust adjustment.

This was a really enjoyable sew for me.  I had spent the previous fortnight sewing swimwear, so it was lovely to switch back to well behaved cottons and take time with the details (the quilting, the entre-deux and top-stitched seams, the hem, the binding).

My second version was made with double gauze, from Miss Matatabi.  This was my first time sewing with double gauze.  Clearly, it wrinkles!!  This top was ironed before I put it on for the day.  The fabric has a cute, wavy stripe running through it.  I thought about stripe matching my side seams, but then opted to go conservative with pattern layout, so that another garment could be sewn from my fabric.

I cut the main panels and side panels on different grains.  The fabric must have a looser weave in one direction than the other, because none of my seam lengths matched when I sent to sew them.  Also, my armholes ended up lower on this top than the first version, which is okay for a casual summer top, but I wouldn't want them this low normally.

I love the sorbet colours of the print, but in hindsight, the fabric designer probably intended for this fabric to me made into baby wraps.  

I haven't put the pattern pieces away, so there might be a third version yet!  It is a great summer basic.