Tank top binge: Mission Maxi tank & Halfmoon Atelier Super Basic tank

Not heaps to tell here, but I hadn't presented the Super Basic tank before, so it's always nice to have a bit of comparison.

For the Mission tanks, my usual size 6 with the front straps shortened about 1".
I removed a generous 4-6" off the hem as well.
Previously I really loved this finish.
I think it works best on stable knits.  On the extremely floppy rib knit, I overlocked the binding edge prior to folding it over, and the result is that it splays outwards and I ended up doing two layers of topstitching to control it.  None of that happened with the mushroom top, which I did in the usual fashion without extra overlocking.

Yep that's a label pinched off an upcycled dress...

The two layers are thicker and overlap at the shoulder strap because of being overlocked. 

As for the Super Basic tank, I was a pattern tester so I'd already honed into the right fit. I cut a size 3.

I think I shortened the front strap a bit here too, as that's a usual fix for me.  I cut these out months ago and so I was puzzled what was the front and what was the back - they looked the same!  I had to try it on a few times before I chose an orientation. Next time I need to remember to mark the front or back to make it more obvious. My fabric is a super stretchy modal blend. I shortened the neck band about 4" (should have done more) and the arm bands about 3".

I was thinking that overall I find overlocking the edges of neckbands seems to make them bigger. I used to just do a zig zag on the sewing machine and that is a very controlling stitch that doesn't stretch the fabric out - my tees and tanks done in that way have survived since literally my first year of sewing!  Overlocking may feel like it beats RTW but that is just not always the case. With that thought in mind I did the terra cotta tank (another very floppy ribbed item) with a zig zag instead of trying to feed it through my emotional catastrophe of an overlocker.  (There will be a review eventually, but unlike the reviews that I read prior to purchasing, I find the Babylock Imagine to be more like the Babylock Don't Imagine.)

I shortened the bands a lot more on this since it really needs strong bands to make up for the stretchy and floppy fabric. On the Mission since the binding overlaps, it controls the edge really well but with a normal neck binding like this, you need to have enough tension or the whole top won't fit right. I didn't measure very scientifically, just pulled it around the top until I got a sense that I had reasonable tension.  I also tested out a new photo location but didn't quite calculate properly...all the photos with good light had my head cut off. You're welcome.

Ready to Sew Jimmy & Atelier Brunette

I made Jimmy just under a year ago, using scuba material that had a lot of body. (See it here.)
I found it oddly useless.  Not warm enough to be a warm layer, but long sleeved and thus not a great lightweight layer.  It's certainly pretty...

However this Jimmy was cut out before that.  It was from 2017 and I was so excited about it at the time. The fabric is Atelier Brunette and it was eye-wateringly expensive here in New Zealand. I did a practice version from merino, never managed to photograph it - for that I did the version with the hem band. It was overall too big and floppy, so I sized down to a 34. Now of course I know the 34 fit from my scuba version.

I think the fit is good and sewing was fine despite not having marked the pleats - I had to pull out the pattern pieces and mark them now.  I do love the idea of the 2 part sleeves.  However I don't really like the shape on me.  It's too fitted and then too loose.  I want either fitted or loose, not half of each!  I find it funny that I foresaw this with the scuba, noting that sweatshirting might not create the best fit.

It's cute and luckily I know a skinny teenager so I'm donating it on.  I have the tiniest bit of the fantastic fabric, maybe enough for the bands on a pair of Hudson pants.  Oh well, I guess there will always be more great fabric in life.

Strata top, by Sew Liberated

I was not planning to talk about this...I posted about it on Instagram with a comparison of the Botany and the Strata top.  But then I made another one and it seems worth a bit of proper documentation.  I used size XS.

Here's the first one:

Linen.
I kind of liked it and I kind of didn't like it.  I wore it a lot and then gave it to a friend and then kind of missed it.  But really the main issue is the stupid wrinkling under the arm from the curve of the kimono sleeve.

However I had a Vision! It involved slippery rayon.  And so I cut the thing out before leaving Flagstaff to cement my Vision!

Some major ironing-rehabilitation plus a mere few hours:

(This rayon clearly will want after ironing-rehabilitation all the time, but it's not getting any more!)

The problem, of course, is that I desperately wanted this in February when I moved here.  It was hot.  I was hot.  I got a sunburn.  I'm not hot anymore.  But it's still cute.  I still like the Botany top more but I have not yet conflated the two patterns into a sleeveless but high low hem top - which is going to happen eventually.  This type of sleeve is not very useful in the winter because it can't be layered easily - you need a really wide top to go over it and I mostly have pretty fitted sweaters and cardigans.

Simplicity New Look 6429 & Orla Kiely stems

Well here we are, I did promise that I would do this again.  Here's version 1.

After I made version 1, I put in a heap of effort.  I actually shortened the pattern by an unknown amount, between 4-8 inches, at the midsection, redrafting the darts slightly to accommodate the changes.  I cut out this nice Orla Kiely fabric including a yoke that wouldn't be too busy. And then I boxed it all up for 2 years.

It's still a size 10 and it took a day or so to do. I can comment that it's a lot easier to handle single layer quilting cotton dresses now that I have an overlocker. Seams are controlled, there's no question of how to best finish things, and it all looks neat inside!

I'm the same size I was 2 years ago, but not quite in the same way.  (Looking at those old pictures I think they look surprisingly good!) But lest I get too sad about that - I was taking these pictures in my front yard and my elderly neighbors came out while I was wearing this dress, to tell me how good I looked. And yet again I think it looks more ok in pictures than I feel in it.

My end thoughts are that my style has changed too much. This feels just a bit too small everywhere. The poochy fabric-belly that was there before, is still there.  Maybe widening the entire dress would have been wiser than shortening it?  I think the stems are annoying because although my pattern matching was quite good, it's not perfect.  I just can't wear a dress like this, a cute, fitted, quilting cotton type number - and I'm not actually sure I ever really wanted to.  My friend Tessa has agreed to dispose of it, either on her daughter or on some hapless friends with kids. Yay!