Colette Sorbetto Tank Top

I saw the Colette Sorbetto Tank Top pattern over at beautifully sewn a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was cute and when I saw it was free, I went ahead and printed it out. When I went to Joann’s to buy the fabric for my dress a couple of weeks ago, I also bought some fun fabric for this tank:

I thought doing this before diving into the more complicated dress would be a good idea. Get some practice with darts and whatnot.

My measurements spread over a few different sizes based on the Colette sizing charts so I chose the middle size. Last weekend, I started by making a mock first, using leftover fabric from my small (but growing) stash. Because I had to put both pieces of the pattern on the fold, I ended up having to use two different colors, so don’t mind that funny bit. When I put it on, I noticed that one dart was about 1/2″ longer than the other, so I made a note and planned to be extra careful when making the real thing. The mock-up fit well, just seemed a bit short, so I added the line for three sizes up on the bottom back to the pattern (since that one was more appropriate for my hip size anyway!)

Then this weekend, I finally dove into the real thing with the real fabric. I worked slowly to make sure that I didn’t screw anything up. This probably took me about 6-7 hours to complete over 2 days. The first day I did all the pattern cutting, and went all the way up to attaching the front and back together. The next day I did the bias tape at the neck and arm holes and then the hemming.

I feel like this one looks more yellow than it really is (maybe it’s because the walls in the room are yellow? Or maybe there are more yellow dots than grey ones).

So here’s a shot against a white door. A bit less yellow, but I feel like the image isn’t all that clear. I’ll figure out better ways to take pictures….

I ended up re-doing one of the darts 4 times because the first time I went completely off the line, the second time the dart was too long, the third time the thread got all bunched, but the fourth time worked!

This was the second time I worked with bias tape. I followed the directions on how to attach and I must say, though it was more time-consuming, it was definitely better than when I did it on the changing pads.

My edgestiching needs some practice, but overall I’m pretty happy with the turnout. The material still seems a little stiff (it’s 100% cotton). But the pajama pants I made in my sewing class last summer were made of the same type of fabric and after a few washings they softened up, so I’m hoping it’s the same for this shirt.

By the way: I LOVE MY ROTARY CUTTER! Mark got me one for Christmas and I absolutely love it. It works so well. It takes less time to cut the fabric and the edges are straighter and there’s less fraying (at least first…)

Anywho, hooray for me for finishing my first top without an instructor! I feel more confident in my abilities but I understand that I have a long way to go. I still have TONS to learn, especially about fabrics, but I know I’ll get there 🙂