Month: July 2023

Summertime Tanks: The Life of Riley

On By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized2 Comments

Oh this summer! The other day I went to put on my favorite bathing suit. As I was pulling the bottoms over my legs I hear “bbbrrrrrrruuuuuupt” – that all knowing sound of old elastic stretching out. The legs holes were totally useless as the back just hung off my butt like an untucked sheet. Very depressing – and they weren’t even that old! I had the idea that I could probably just replace the elastic in the legs, so I didn’t throw them out. They now sit on a pile of well intentioned projects I say I’ll get to – running belts that I haven’t sewn up yet or tee shirts that I want to repurpose into tank tops. It’s so hard when there are so many other cool things to sew. I really do want to fix these bathing suit bottoms though…

These bottoms fit so well! And lately the suits I’ve tried on don’t seem to cover much of my bottom…it would be nice to salvage these.

Right now, I’m busy with summer tank tops. I saw this Seamwork pattern in my collection, the Riley top, and I thought it looked really cute. I had also been trying to figure out what to do with this fun cotton fabric I bought. I thought this might be the perfect top for it, but wanted to figure out the fit and the length first. I knew it was a cropped style and it seems like when Seamwork says its cropped, its REALLY cropped.

I thought there was a possibility I’d want to lengthen it just a tad. I didn’t want it too long either, which is usually my complaint of other patterns. I found this Paris-themed cotton in my stash. It was one of those times I just bought something because I thought it looked cool even though I had no idea what I would sew up with it. It’s just plain cotton, a little on the thick side so probably not ideal for this project, which I think prefers a lighter weight fabric. I decided to go for it and it mainly works. It’s a little bulky in places and the ties and bottom casing a little stiff, but the print is really cute for this. For a test garment, it’s extremely wearable. I tried to really take my time on the hem and the facing, so it didn’t look too sloppy. I think the result is great.

The Seamwork Riley top, in some nice cotton
A very rainy day in Cambridge, MA. But it’s still muggy enough to wear a summer top.

Now to try it with the real fabric. This is lighter weight so I think it will sew up nicely. However, I had thought it had just a slight stretch to it, but when I started cutting into it, I realized it’s pretty much a two-way stretch jersey. I’m still going to try it – the pattern doesn’t use too much fabric, so I will still have some fabric left for another top if this doesn’t work out the way I want it to. After seeing where the Paris tank landed, I decided to extend the pattern by 1.5 inches. That way I could wear it to work if I wanted or at least not feel self conscious wearing it when I’m not at my fittest.

This fabric is so cute!

I made too much bias tape for the first tank, but I’m hoping what I cut out will make enough for this one. I’ve been dreading it and putting it off because there was just so much ironing with the last one, and I struggled with my bias tape tool for some reason – the fabric just kept moving and shifting to one side. I may need another tool that’s easier to use.

With all these tops, I think I may need to switch it up. I’m really wanting to make some shorts before the weather gets cooler, but it’s hard adding stuff to my growing list of potential projects. I think I need to at least attempt the dress I cut out first. We’ll see if I get distracted…again.

Beachwear for a Rainy Day

On By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Summer sewing has gone really well this year! It just might be because the weather has not been optimal. Many rainy days, cloudy skies and predictions of storms have made it hard to really enjoy these warmer months. It definitely has made it tough to plan a beach day. So when the chance of rain dropped this past weekend, I took advantage of it. Even though it wasn’t perfect beach weather with overcast skies all day and temperatures in the 70s, it was still nice to sit and listen to the waves and dip in the ocean.

I just finished two beachwear projects so I decided to show them off. The first was a pair of pink pants, made with what I think is cotton gauze fabric. The crinkly texture made me immediately think of beach pants, and the flowy drape fit my vision perfectly. I used a different view of a pattern I had made before, Simplicity 2414. This time I went for the long pants with the casing and ties at the bottom. I really like the result, although I think next time I would make the holes a bit closer together in the casing at the bottom of the legs. I think I had trouble marking the spots correctly.

In staying with the pink theme, I also managed to sew up a Megan Nielsen Eucalypt dress in this turtle print rayon I already had. I was going through (and attempting to clean out) my fabric stash and found that I had a lot leftover from when I made my other bathing suit cover up. I figured this would be a perfect pattern to try out, especially since its such a fast sew. I used french seams, which was recommended by the pattern, and I liked how it included a pattern for the strips to make the bias tape for the neck and armhole facings. Even though I usually make my bias tape by a different method, this worked well since I didn’t need a lot for this dress. The fit isn’t perfect, so I think I would adjust the top the next time, maybe making a smaller size and then grading it at the bottom. It works well for a cover up though and I’m a really big fan of this turtle print. Being able to get rid of some of my fabric stash with a project that only took a few days was a real plus.

Rainy weekends can be very productive, as I also had a chance to cut out some other projects. I’m in the process of making a summer tank top – I’m trying it out on some Paris-themed cotton I found (yay more stash busting!) so I can size it for this other really cute semi-stretch fabric I also bought on a whim. This other fabric also seems to be French themed – maybe my subconscious is telling me I need a trip. Speaking of bias tape, I ended up making enough to bind my whole apartment I think. Well, it’s always a good thing to have on hand anyways. This will be for the Riley Tank by Seamwork. I’m hoping my one-way stretch fabric will work for this pattern even though it’s for woven fabric. I think it could be a top that I wear quite often – I may need to lengthen it for my next attempt, but I haven’t quite finished the first version to see.

My other method of making bias tape shown above – it involves cutting a section to make a parallelogram and marking up strips for the tape. Then it’s sewn into a tube and cut into one continuous strip. There are tutorials online for the specifics.

I also started work on a sleeveless button down shirt – another trial before I cut into the fabric I really want the shirt from. This may just be the summer of muslins. And I also started cutting out a summer dress, which I am excited to get started on. This will be a wearable muslin (I hope) as I’m trying to find something suitable to make with the only Liberty cotton fabric in my stash.

So a lot is going on right now and I’m getting things done! Hopefully the clouds will lift soon, but in the meantime I can sew for the summer I want, even if it’s not the summer I got.