Quick, practical, a tiny bit less plain.

Tank top V. 2: Blue

Ok, I lied. Why clean the house when I can sew?

A second tank top, made out of my lovely robin’s-egg blue knit. I added elastic at the centre bust and along the hips to add ruching; it worked nicely on the bust, not so well on the hips (I think the stitch I used there was a bad choice. Oopsie). I guess I could add more rows of ruching on either side of the seam to intensify it, like vertical shirring. The ruching is formed by sewing a stretched elastic to the back of the fabric; it makes a nice, stretchable gather if you get it even. I haven’t used this technique since I was about 12, and never on a stretchy fabric, so I’m a little out of practice. More than a little.

It’s a little bit looser and a little bit longer in the body than my first tank top, but still fairly comfy. Full time sewing: about an hour and a half. These really are ridiculously easy (and quick) to make—and use hardly any fabric. Even including the price of elastic, and fabric at $8/m (hooray for 60% off clearance!), it can’t be more than $5 for the whole shirt. Even the construction time isn’t that much more than it would take me to run to the mall to buy one.

Tank-top V. 2: back