Posts Tagged ‘tank’

kcw summer 2013 [day 7]

beetle tank and sporty shorts by elsie marley

That’s Mr. Muscles up there kissing his giant biceps and wearing his new shirt and shorts. I almost got two shirts and two pairs of shorts done for each kid, but the last pair of my daughter shorts refused to happen. Still, 5 tee shirts and 5 pairs of short is not too shabby.

beetle tank and sporty shorts by elsie marley

And this whole outfit is self drafted!  The binding on the tank is not perfect, but it was the first time I had ever done it. I used a strip of jersey like it was bias tape to bind the neckline and sleeves. It’s very narrow and I liked the look of it so much, I used it for most of the tops I made this week. I might even feel compelled to write a tutorial, because it looks so nice when you use it with Rae’s Flashback Tee pattern.

beetle tank and sporty shorts by elsie marley

The shorts I drafted myself because I liked the style of running shorts, but I wanted a waistband. The blog-o-world has not embraced the separate waistband and I really can’t figure out why. It’s not that much more work and it ends up looking so much nicer. Plus it makes adding pockets super easy.

two jersey shirts and two pairs of shorts by elsie marley

Obviously, my boys like blue.

ice cream shirt and chambray shorts by elsie marley

This one requested and ice cream shirt and he’s the youngest, so an ice cream shirt he got. I used the Flashback Skinny Tee pattern and bound the neckline like the tank.

ice cream shirt by elsie marley

I really love Bobo Choses (a kidswear clothing line) and their printed shirts are extra good. I was going for that look with these two shirts (and a few more waiting to be finished). I did them with freezer paper stencils and fabric paint. Remind me next time though to get the good paint, because the cheap tulip brand stuff is crapola–the black is really charcoal gray and it turned a muddy brown in spots when I ironed it. Lame! At least he doesn’t mind.

chambray shorts by elsie marley

The shorts are, boring boring, the pattern I always make from Happy Homemade vol 2. But super exciting news: Happy Homemade vol 2 is coming out in English this November! Woo Hoo! I smell a sew-a-long.

ice cream shirt and chambray shorts by elsie marley

Did you sew along this summer’s kcw? Follow along? Either way stop by the kcw blog to see today’s featured clothes. Happy KCW (and later this week for the big wrap up)!

wiksten tank

wiksten tank

This top is made from fabric botched in the dye pot, which was supposed to be beautiful ombre curtains for my dining room, which before that was a lovely soft sheet on our bed, which got horriblly ripped, so I thought it would make nice curtains until I screwed it up the dye job (and turned the bathtub blue) and now, it turns out, is perfect for this top.

me and my wiksten tank

The tank top pattern is from wiksten made. Sadly, she’s not selling them anymore, but I bet if you scoured the web, one would pop up for sale. (By the way, if anyone has a xs, s, m tova top pattern that they’d like to trade for the tank top pattern–and trade back–let me know!)

wiksten tank back

The pattern is incredibly simple and nicely done: french seams, all edges bias bound, nicely cut. Because I’m always scared I will make clothes too small, I cut out patterns too large. So with this one I just said fuck it and cut a small. The fit is okay, maybe a little close, but at least I don’t have to take the sucker in. I was a little on the edge about the contrasting pocket, but today I saw a lady with a freakin sequin pocket, so I think I’m good to go.