Tag Archives | silk tank

Silk Tank, Version 4.1a Beta

By on October 10, 2011 in Mise en Place Project, Summer Style
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At long last, a deep drenching rain came to Austin over the weekend. The ground was soggy, the morning had a sweet breeze, and I celebrated by pulling out just about anything with long sleeves. Despite that, I’m still finishing up my summer clothes including the latest in my silk tank top experiments. The latest is a pattern from August’s Burda:

Before this, I’d been working and re-working a Kwik Sew pattern. My last version underwent my first-ever FBA (thanks to advice from pattern whizzes), and came out fitting well, but still felt too boxy and shapeless.

Some of my problem was the design of the garment itself. It’s amazing how something so simple as a tank or shell can have so many subtle style and fit variations. Since I was teen I’ve always instinctually veered away from wide scoop necklines–I just don’t think they frame my angular face very well. I fiddled with the neckline a lot, trying to narrow the scoop which also requires narrowing the back into a slightly more racerback shape, and eventually decided to just try another pattern.

I think I was taken in by all the romantic styling (I’m really obsessed with blush tones right now) so I dropped the Kwik Sew pattern and traced this this Burda pattern…

I left out the side zipper and just sewed it as a pullover.

I love this fabric and darker coral hue (a half yard of stretch silk charmeuse that I ordered as a swatch a couple years ago–I’m trying to use up my yardage ends!). The recommended finish is a folded bias strip that is sewn to the right side then pressed inward and topstitched. I thought I’d try it, but think I prefer using facings. (You can see that the bias stretched too much and doesn’t lay flat against my neckline. You can also see, erm, that those darts are not the greatest.)

Just for the color and the fact that it’s sleeveless, I’ll probably wear this to death, despite the fact that its neckline is even wider than the Kwik Sew pattern. The straps almost fall off my shoulders. I’ll continue the hunt for next summer, or just perhaps draft my own darn tank.

Mondays are kind of like pajama day around here (rarely make-up, rarely even brushing the hair) but I decided to snap pictures anyway. This get-up is more or less representative of my default personal style (the kind which requires no thought when I realize I need to at least leave the house for groceries, or in this case, get in front of a camera)–jeans, a top, some kind of jacket or funky wrap, and brogues. I love brogues–flat ones, heeled ones. My husband calls them my collection of “teacher shoes”. Yep, I was a saddle shoe kid.

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The Silk Tank, Version 3.2?

By on August 5, 2011 in Mise en Place Project
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My latest test of the silk tank pattern is turning out nicely, thanks to advice by Sherry and Steph, who suggested a full bust adjustment, with an added dart, that would give me some extra room in the chest.

You’re going to see a lot of this purple fabric (and wrinkled, too–heh). Rayon challis solids were like $1.50 a yard during an extreme sale at fabric.com last year, and I bought an entire bolt of 12 yards! It has been very handy for muslins for my never-ending queue of silk projects, as its weight and drape are so close to silk’s.

Since my previous version of this pattern, I made two adjustments.

1. I raised the neckline about an inch. I realized that if the top fell over my bust properly the neckline would be too deep and revealing. The only reason it was staying up was that my chest was pulling it up.

2. Added length and width through a full bust adjustment, which also added a dart. I’d be happy to illustrate how I did this if anyone’s interested.

Between these two alterations I think the pattern has balanced itself on my body–no more hiking up and a pretty even hem.

I love the way it fits now and it’s comfortable, but the style is still not exactly what I am looking for. By adding room, I lost some of its dramatic tent shape, going from narrow to wide–and have ended up with something boxier-looking than I want. To give the illusion of that shape I’m going to try and narrow the scoop of the neckline. I also want to make sure there will be no more bra-peek-age from the armholes, ya know? (I’m wearing a high-riding sports bra in the photo but still.) Isn’t it amazing how one can get stuck on something so simple as a tank? I might as well have drafted this from scratch because it barely resembles the original pattern! I’m having fun learning about armhole and neckline shapes, however–so experimenting on a tank is better than something bigger and more wasteful of fabric.

That’s it for now–back to more testing! Tonight I’ll hopefully get to sewing a little muslin of the Lonsdale bodice.

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Silk Tank Pattern in Need of Fitting Advice

By on July 17, 2011 in Mise en Place Project, Pattern Fitting
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Thanks to a little time alone at home, I’ve been able to get most of the patterns for my project traced, cut and prepped. I’m still waiting on the Sewaholic pattern, which is in the mail and will have to lag behind the others. There is just one pattern left that is causing me a little bit of head-scratching–the pattern for my white silk tank top.

Here was my initial version, back in May, in a red silk charmeuse.

The pattern started out as Kwik Sew 3795, which I chose for its a-line tent shape, but I wanted my tank to be 1. much shorter, and 2. have higher armholes.

Once sewn, I also realized I wanted a deeper “u-shape” to the neckline. It is a bit too wide for me and makes me look rather broad shouldered, which I am. While I’m at it, I may make the straps wider, but before I do either of these design changes, the fit needs to be better.

Now that I have worn my red tank about 10 times, I know it is too tight across the upper bust. It has almost no ease and is so tight that the front hemline creeps up about 1 1/2 inches higher than the back. To me this says I need more length and/or width for the bust. I’m guessing that by raising the armhole, I removed some of the necessary ease that was provided by such deep revealing armholes.

The horizontal line is where the tightness is happening, and the diagonal lines highlight actual draglines from the front being pulled up. I’m too lazy to take a better picture of me in this, but hopefully this makes sense.

Any fitting experts have some advice on this? I could just go with a bigger size, but then I would have to redraft all my armhole changes. That really isn’t a biggie, but if you have some advice on this, I’d love to hear!

Oh, and this top has no darts.

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