Friday, July 3, 2015

Sew What?! Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank

When I saw this pretty rose fabric by Gertie I knew that I had to make something ultra summery. The tiny pocket tank by Grainline Patterns seemed like a great fit!


The 100% cotton swiss dot fabric was very easy to work with. Gerties pretty fabrics are carried at JoAnns. After my first attempt sewing a garment with polyester I think the cotton was a wise choice. It was very familiar and 'acted' in ways that I expected it to. I opted for french seams on this top which really made it feel 'put together.'


The pattern has two parts (front and back) plus a tiny pocket, which I did not make as I think it would have gotten lost in the busy fabric pattern. Great for beginners! I sewed up a size 4 which aligned well with my measurements. The bust dart and shaped hemline add a little sophistication to the simply top. As you can probably already see the tank is just a smidge tight in the armpit which attributed to some pulling and creasing across the chest area.


Don't mind the tiny tomato I'm holding - it was the very first out of our patio garden! I saw it when my hubby and I headed out for photos and I was drawn to pick it immediately... Nope, I couldn't wait five minutes to take the photos first.

Sooo, the wonky chest, armpit thing...  I read a number of suggestions to address this issue (it appears to be a common issue for this pattern) and many said just to size up. That's the easiest thing to do for sure. Thing is I like where the neckline and hemline fall and it is perfectly wide enough. If I simply size up all of those things will change. I believe this means I'll be needing to do an alteration or two. I don't think I'll be able to salvage this top as the seam allowances were fairly small. I will probably still wear it because it isn't awful, the busy print of the fabric saved me there. This garment sewing business is tricky, tricky, tricky!


If you experienced this issue, what did you do to fix it?

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2 comments:

  1. Open up underarm seams 4" and insert darts

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    1. Great idea. You could add a small gusset (I think that's what Jacquie means) when you open the underarm seams. Shouldn't be too hard. French seams are a lot more to take out, but would be worth it. It's really cute. Things like this is why many recommend making a muslim test first with each pattern. I never did. I just measure the pattern pieces first adding up total at each crucial fitting point to make sure they will work. You usually need about an inch of ease for good fit. Looks like armhole might need to be just slightly deeper (maybe 1/2"), so you might need a bit more binding to cover it, too, and it shouldn't show on the outside if you pieced it. Still pretty easy fix for such a cute top. Good luck. Repost photos if you do alter it. I'd like to see how that worked out. Then you can permanently alter your pattern and make another one. :)

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