Tanks for everything: the Aurora top

Pattern: Aurora tank by Seamwork

Skills acquired:

Double needle for knit
Installing a walking foot

Hello sew blog my old friend.

This past summer, running was my life as I was training for my first marathon (as seen in my other blog). It was almost impossible to find time to sew. The good news is that I’ve been sewing quite a lot in the last month, so I’m hoping to be able to carve out some time to write about my projects.

Amidst all the training, I was actually able to complete one project over the summer – the Aurora tank top by Seamwork patterns. On top of everything else, I also got a new job this September, so I never got around to writing about this project. I had picked this particular pattern due to it’s simplicity – only 3 pieces to cut out and Seamwork patterns are known for their quickness to assemble. All are supposed to take under 2 hours. I worked on this in pieces of time that I could find here and there, but I’m pretty sure the 2 hours is accurate.

The walking foot! It was kind of a pain to put on as I had to take a few things apart to install, but worked pretty well in the end.

The only thing that was really challenging was trying to use a double knit needle. I had threaded a double needle before when I was making my corduroy pants and I remember sewing on that fabric felt perfectly normal. I’m not sure why I was having such a hard time doing the same on knit – it felt a lot more difficult. Material kept bunching up and sewing in a straight line was totally impossible. I had to unpick and redo a few sections, as it kept puckering in parts. With all the difficulties I kept having in keeping the stitching an even tension, I decided to try one more thing – my walking foot.

I had only used it for one other project – where the material was thick and stretchy and didn’t move well through the machine. This time, I decided to use it to keep the stitching more even – it would get tight in some parts and much looser in others. I’m wondering if there is some big trick that I am totally missing.

So much bunching! Trying to double needle this thing was not easy.

It took some extra time to install as it is more involved than just popping feet on and off. I actually had to unscrew a piece off – but I actually remembered how to do this despite only having done it one other time before. I think it did make a difference in how the material moved through the machine and my stitches were a lot cleaner, even though they never ended up perfect. I also probably need practice as I noticed the 2nd armhole came out better than the first. I was running low on time, so the imperfections would have to stand – I’m still pretty pleased with the result. Definitely something I can wear on those hot summer days when I barely want to wear clothes at all.