Wiksten tank top – in knits

Hi! And where have the last 4 weeks gone…I think this is the longest I’ve gone with writing about something. Honestly, I was a little off-put by having so many wadders in January, and time slipped by with little sewing.

But I generally spring back. I’ve been busy.

First, I assessed my wardrobe and now have a lot fewer things in the closet. After 4 years of sewing and blogging nonstop, I had way too many things in there. I was also tired of them! And having so many clothes was bugging me – I had a nagging feeling of guilt because most them were never worn after I blogged them.

Easy to correct – donation time. They’ll be going to a women’s closet organization in Ft. Myers that helps women in distress or in need of appropriate clothing for interviews, court appearances, etc.

Second, I turned to a TNT top that I just love, the Wiksten woven tank top. I had four pieces of cotton/rayon jersey from Girl Charlee’s big Black Friday sale – about 2 yards of each, purchased for under $2.50/yard. It was time to revamp my Wiksten pattern for use with knits.

Last year I redrafted my Wiksten pattern to be a little longer (added 2″) and a bit ‘swingier’ (moved the bottom side seams out 1″).  This time around I just added the sleeve from a knit dress, Vogue 1315, cut to elbow length.

Worked great! This top is incredibly comfortable, and it’s tunic length, which makes it perfect for jeans and leggings. Even better – I slept in the first one I made, and it was wrinkle-free in the morning. Wow. Nice fabric.

Other sewing notes:

• As with every single garment I sew, I finished the shoulders with a flat-fell seam. This prevents any irritation from the seam and stabilizes it without bias tape or elastane.

• This top could be sewn with a serger alone, but I always worry that a serged seam will stretch open a little bit with wear, exposing the stitches. So I sew my knit seams with a lightening stitch, and then serge/cut the seam allowances together.

• And I cut my neckline banding across the width (across the stretch) of the fabric, rather than on the bias. I keep a basket of knit and woven scraps, pre-cut into binding widths. They come in so handy – I had a suitable color for each of these stripes.

I will say that the fabric has funky selvedges. But I cut them off before laying out the pattern, and the stripe matching was really easy.

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend! Bye for now, Coco