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.