UFO no. 1: Ruby Star Wiksten Tank & some notes on fit

Trying to keep up with my promise to myself to clear my UFO pile, here's the first one off the list, and just in time for me to join in with Selfish Sewing Week - which I'm hoping will give me another little push along.



This is another Wiksten Tank, this time in Kokka Melody Miller Ruby Star Vinyl fabric. As I've made this pattern several times now I've tweeked it to fit me here and there and I think the fit now is pretty right for me. Recently I was reading about how one person tweeked a pattern many times til it fit right, and it made me realise that often I don't do that - I just accept the fit as that's the way it is and unless it's obvious that something's drastically wrong (like it's too tight or loose around the waist) then I leave it. But really I should be trying to get it just right.
So why don't I? I think it's:
A. impatience with a touch of laziness - I want it to wear now
B. I'm a pretty standard size, which is great. Most garment fit reasonably well if I follow the size guides and do any grading where necessary. BUT there are still areas that could be much better. No pattern is going to fit anyone perfectly right from the start as we're all different. To expect a pattern company to be able to create patterns to fit everyone with no alterations is just plain unrealistic. It just took me a while to realise this
C. After years of wearing almost 100% RTW til the last few years I think I'm just used to fit not being quite right. Ever. Know what I mean?



So with this pattern my mods are:
1. lengthen the hem by about 2 inches (I have a long body)
2. take some width out of the back using notes from this post
and
3. add a bit of width to the side seams at the bust to give me a bit more ease. Clearly a FBA is not needed by me, but I did like the fit of the XS size everywhere but the bust and thought going up a size would throw the balance out.

It's just a simple little top and maybe doesn't warrant all those alterations but I do feel a lot more comfortable in this version than this first one because of those mods. I look back on those pics now and can see all the little things that are not right (though I still love the fabric and wish I had more!). I hope I can keep up this attention to detail with other patterns, but am not putting any money on it :-)



And just a couple more notes on this version... I used a bias binding to finish the hem as well as the neckline and armholes as I thought it would finish it nicely. I made the binding with my Clover gadget in a complimentary coloured cotton. Somehow I managed to lose the scraps of the Ruby Rising fabric so couldn't use it to make binding and also couldn't add a pocket to the front! But I think it's fine anyway, there's a lot going on in the print of the fabric.

And speaking of the fabric, this cotton/linen blend is lovely to wear and feels more substantial than my other voile versions, but I do think voile sits better with this pattern. You can see in the second pic above that the cotton/linen sits a little stifly... but overall I'm happy with this one!

Now onto the next UFO. And I'll be keeping my eye on the Selfish Sewing Flickr group with keen interest this week, but hoping to not feel too inspired - that UFO pile needs to go down first!!

Wiksten tank no. 2

The hot weather we've been having has spurred me on to make a few more clothes for myself (you can never have too many - right? ;-). And my latest favourite is this Wiksten tank top.

I've been wearing no. 1 to death. To quote my little girl: "oh mum, you're wearing that again!!" So I thought I'd use this pretty piece of voile from my stash (from Spotlight) for another. I'd originally bought it to use for a pair of harem pants for my big girl but had changed my mind (harem pants post to come).

As with the last top this one came together pretty quickly: fabric cut in one session, sewing seams in another and then the neck and armhole binding in another. In fact the binding is the thing that takes me the longest. All that pinning and pressing is worth it though as it makes for such a lovely finish.

I really like the style and fit of this pattern. It's comfortable and easy to wear. And even though voile is notorious for not lasting too long (it's so fine that it starts to fall apart after wearing and laundering many times) it drapes so beautifully that I think it's worth it.

I made a couple of small alterations to the pattern this time: I added a little ease in the bust as the previous one was a little tight but I liked the fit everywhere else. And I also lengthened the hemline by about an inch at the front and by about 2 at the back. I wanted to wear this top with my Black Spinal trousers and as they're tight like leggings I like to wear a top with them where the hemline falls at least to the crotch.

I'm sure there will be a Wiksten tank no. 3, it's just a matter of allocating some more fabric, preferably from the stash. Which, ahem, doesn't seem to be decreasing, even though that was one of my sewing goals for 2012, sigh...

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