Welcome to the tutorial I taught at the Maker Faire for stitching up this little number
These instructions should allow you to create a tank that fits you just right. Even measured to fit, the pattern has lots of ease, as it is meant to be nice and loose and floaty. Let’s go!
Materials:
2 yards 45″ wide lightweight cotton fabric (you could also use light silk or linen, anything that won’t be too bulky when you gather it at the top). If you want to lengthen the top into a tunic or dress, buy at least a yard of extra fabric. Wash your fabric before starting so you can wash the garment without trauma.
1 Pkg double-fold bias binding
2 yards ribbon (double that if you’re using narrow ribbon. Be sure your ribbon is machine washable and pre-washed with your fabric)
Thread to match all
A ruler
1 sheet of newsprint or large-format paper
A pen
Sewing stuff– pins, shears, sewing machine etc.
*Seam allowances are 1/2″
Measure Yourself to Create a Pattern That Fits You
*You’ll be drawing your pattern on the half, to allow you to use a single sheet of newsprint to cut the pattern. When you cut out your fabric, you’ll just put the pattern on the fold of your fabric to get the whole shirt piece.
1. Measure around your body above your bust, just under your arms. Write this measurement down as X
2. Measure around the widest part of your bust. This is measurement Y
3. Measure the vertical distance between X & Y, this is measurement Z
4. Measure the vertical distance between Y and where you’d like the bottom of the tank to hit you at the hip. This is measurement W.
5. You don’t want the bottom of the tank to appear to taper in at the hip, so measure your body at the bottom of W and write that down, it is measurement V
Now for some math to figure out how to draw half the pattern on a piece of paper. It isn’t major math, just a way to figure out the perfect numbers for your unique measurements.
1. Divide X by 4 and then add 1.5= A
2. Divide Y by 4 and add 3=B
3. Z + 2=C
4. Divide V by 4 and add 4= D
Now pull out a sheet of newspaper (or other big paper) and get out a ruler and a pen.
1. At the top of the page, draw a horizontal line the length of A
2. Measure C inches below line A and make a mark
3. At the C mark you made, draw a horizontal line the length of B
4. Measure W inches below line B and make a mark
5. At the mark W you made, draw a horizontal line the length of D
What you have at this point should look something like this– it may be a little more or less trapezoidal, but that is ok.
You do want at least an inch difference in width between A and B, so if you don’t have that, make A shorter until you do. If D and B are the same width and you want a little more flare at the bottom, add an inch to D.
6. Draw a curved line between the ends of A & B for the armsyce (aka underarm/arm pit). If you’re nervous doing this by eye, trace the underarm curve of a favorite tank. Your paper should now look like this
7. Now draw a diagonal line connecting B & D to finish up the pattern. It will look like this:
As you see it says “fold” at the edge of the paper, because you’ll be placing that edge on the fold of a doubled length of fabric.
8. Cut the pattern out along the lines.
9. Fold your fabric so that the two raw edges meet in the middle.
(note: if your pattern is longer than 45″ from top to bottom, this layout won’t work for you, so try folding the fabric so that the selvedge (finished) edges meet and see if you have enough fabric for two identical pattern pieces when you lay your pattern on the fold)
10. Place your pattern piece on one fold, pin it down and cut around it. Repeat on the other fold so you have two identical shirt pieces.
11. Pin pieces right sides together and sew side seams from the bottom of the armsyce to the hem.
12. Finish the armhole edges– either by enfolding each one with bias binding, or by double-folding the raw edge over to the wrong side of the fabric.
13. Make casings for the ribbon:
Fold the top raw edge over to the wrong side 1/4 inch and press. Fold down another 3/4″ and press.
Stitch close to the bottom fold.
14. Thread one length of ribbon through each casing using a safety pin or a bodkin.
15. Put on the shirt and gather the fabric along the casing so it fits to your liking(if you want it to stay this way permanently, make small hand-tacking stitches at the end of each casing, through all thicknesses)
16. Adjust the length of the ribbon straps to get the neckline that makes you happiest. Once you’ve got it, tie the ribbons into bows at the shoulder.
17. Make a narrow hem along the bottom of the garment by turning the raw edge to the wrong side 1/4″ and pressing, then folding another 1/4″, pressing again, pinning and stitching close to the top fold.
You’re done! If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. I’d love to see what you make using this tutorial, so please stop by the belle epoque tutorials group on Flickr and show us your stuff!