A Sleepset and Other Things I Didn’t Like

I sewed a cami and shorts sleepset from a sheet.  I made the exposed bias binding from cotton fabric.  I made both top and bottom in a large size for comfort.

The camisole is the Sew Loft Diana cami pattern, formerly free, and still available from the link on the page.  It has a racer style back.  I had trouble with the joins of the bias tape, and it’s a little messy.  The center vee in the front was made from a continuous piece of bias tape and it doesn’t lay flat when worn.  For a sharp vee I think two separate pieces intersecting in the dip are needed.  I didn’t follow the pattern instructions for the bias binding.

the back view

The shorts are the the women’s pj shorts free pattern from Life Sew Savory.  I also applied the bias binding to the leg hems, and I changed the  waistband to a simple inserted elastic band. The fit in the backside is not roomy enough on me to be super comfortable like a bed item must be.  I didn’t make a sheet mock-up, because Iet’s face it, I was already just using a sheet!

So there are a few things wrong with the cami and shorts, but I learned I don’t need perfection for a garment to be wearable.

I just have to want to wear it!

And in this case, I don’t.

Why does that happen?  Sometimes it’s the style, sometimes it’s the fit, sometimes it’s the fabric or a combination of these.  Sometimes it’s just a feeling.

There are times that I make a muslin of a pattern, the fit is off, and I decide I don’t want to continue .  Other times I stall in the making of a garment; it’s not looking good and I don’t want to even try to fix it.  That was the case this summer with a knit dress I was working on, but abandoned.  It’s rarer for me to finish sewing an item, and realize it’s not for me.   Even though I made it for me – ha!

In this case it’s a combination of the fit and the fabric – it doesn’t feel nice enough to me.  In the future, for elastic waist shorts, I will use my basic pants block that I developed through fitting a muslin.  I used it for my gingham pants and 2 pairs of shorts that I love to wear.

I moved on to the tank top I’ve been wearing during this very hot October.  The tag is so off center it’s almost comical.

Not perfect.  But I like it!

 

 

 

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Last Tank of the Summer

This post has a deceptive title. Actually, it’s the first knit tank top I’ve ever made, and it’s not summer anymore.

I used McCalls 6846 which is for woven fabrics, and I also used another tank top for comparison.  I liked the cut-in shoulders on the back of view A.

I used the fabric from an XL tee shirt.  Size medium in the McCalls pattern matched up at the hips to the large size of the Kirsten Kimono Tee which fits me perfectly, but the side seam on the top part of the pattern was larger on the McCalls.

It gaped greatly under the arms so I had to keep taking it in.  That’s also my dilemma with ready to wear: having enough room for my bust while having a close enough fit in the underarm.  This is the fit on a Hanes small size tank I own:

It has sagged terribly!  I’m talking about the shirt, not my arm – ha.

I wear tank tops at home and to walk the dog twice a day for 6 or 7 months of the year, so I would like to be a little more presentable.

The seams were stitched with a zigzag stitch.  I used the  stretch double needle to topstitch over the neck and armhole seams.  I trimmed close to the seams on the inside of the shirt.

I didn’t cut the binding cut very straight, and the whole time I was making this I was wondering if it was going to work out, or be itchy around the binding.

And the verdict is: I like it!  I’m wearing it!  It fits!  It’s comfortable!

Before I made this tank, I worked on sewing a few things that didn’t work out.  Next post, I’ll share what I learned from this.

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