SewLibra:
I saw Paige Davis wearing this cute plum tank with shoulder pleats on Trading Spaces. I jumped up and got a pic with my phone! Tucks are sewn down partially or all the way, but pleats hang freely. Hers look like pleats to me.
SewLibra:
I'm using Telio rayon jersey bamboo knit in "Plum". I'm going to make it all self lined so there won't be any edges to fold over or bind. I'm waiting on the other yard I just bought because I don't have enough to cut two of both front and back.
SewLibra:
I already have a pattern I made, above, some time ago for a basic V-neck tank. The inspiration top has a center front seam, so when I traced this one I added the option for that. Not sure if I will use it at this point. Going to make a muslin first!
SewLibra:
For modifying the pattern for shoulder pleats, I used Love Notions Petal Sleeves and Shoulder Tucks tutorial, which can be found online. They have you draw in the seamlines around the shoulder and armscye first. I have since changed "tucks" to "pleats".
SewLibra:
The tutorial uses only two pleats and I wanted three, like my inspiration top. I made three lines of equal distance between the shoulder seam lines and brought them down to the bust point and where the dart point would be if there was one.
SewLibra:
I cut down to but not through (one of them tore...sigh) the apex area. Unfortunately, I had to draw a dart and cut through it or the paper would not spread where I needed it to. I made a 1" space between the pleats.
SewLibra:
At this point, this is what it looks like. I am not keeping the dart though, and there's more to do at the shoulder too.
SewLibra:
Next I folded the pleats and decided to fold toward the center front. I think that will be more flattering than toward the shoulder.
SewLibra:
Before going any further I took the original self drafted pattern and made sure the shoulder width was the same. When I gather the fabric there, I will make sure it matches up with the back shoulder too.
SewLibra:
Once the pleats were folded and matched the correct shoulder width, I drew a new cutting line and cut. That's just excess paper that was underneath for altering purposes that is being cut off.
SewLibra:
I closed the dart that was made so that the paper laid flat, then used the original front piece to help me true the side seam and add the length back to the bottom.
SewLibra:
After truing the side seam and adding to the bottom, I compared the back to the front at the side seam to make sure they matched up.
SewLibra:
On the suggestion of the tutorial, I marked arrows for the direction the tucks go. If this thing works out I might make it again and would probably forget! Lol. I saw later I forgot the last dot on the right, "D", so added it in.
SewLibra:
I altered the front hem to add 1" at CF, tapering to zero at the side seam. I always need length there to ensure the hem is even, front and back. When done I gave it a dry press. Ready to make the muslin now!
SewLibra:
Here my muslin shows that the armscyes are too low. I needed to raist it in the front and the V neck was too low and wide. I also decided to put a little shaping in the side seams and eliminate the center front seam.
SewLibra:
I scooped the front armscye 1/4" and raised the bottom of it up 3/8". At first I raised it 1/2", but in the past I have overdone it and they came out too high. The back armscye was pretty good, so I changed only what I had to there.
SewLibra:
In my me-made patterns/slopers I had made a guide at some point for side seam shaping. I placed it over my front and back pieces to make the slight curve.
SewLibra:
This is where I keep my "own" patterns, most of them originated from commercial patterns and after I got a good fit I traced off basic wardrobe pieces. They are kept between two foam boards held with chip clips, and stored under the bed.
SewLibra:
Here is the finished pattern for my top, front and back, but I still need to make a front lining because my original front is not matching exactly. Sigh...
SewLibra:
To make sure the folded pleats would match the back piece at the shoulder, I pinned the pleats and placed it over the back again. Ended up taking a little bit from the back shoulder.
SewLibra:
Here I've taken the pinned front piece and flattened it out to trace the front lining. This was not needed on the back because I could use it for both fashion fabric and lining.
SewLibra:
This Telio rayon jersey bamboo jersey has a right and wrong side, but you can't tell with the naked eye. I used my sticky dot tip to mark WSFF (wrong side fashion fabric) and WSL (wrong side lining) on all the pieces.
SewLibra:
I used Knit-N-Stable fusible tape to lightly support the front neck edge. I did this on both the fashion fabric and lining front pieces. Might have been overkill, but my V neck looked great in the end so I'm glad I did it.
SewLibra:
I didn't even mark the pleat lines from the pattern because it was too difficult. Instead I just worked it out visually and left 1/2" on each side to accommodate the 3/8" seam allowances.
SewLibra:
After I got my pleats arranged on both shoulders, I used a machine basting stitch within the seam allowance to keep them in place.
SewLibra:
On the back piece I stabilzed the shoulder stitching line with Design Plus straight fusible stay tape. It is not stretchy like what I used for the V neck. I wanted this to be stable because the pleats are heavy and will attach there.
SewLibra:
The front and back are sewn together at the shoulders and I lightly pressed the pleats, but by the time the top was done the pressing didn't hold. Using a press cloth is a good idea if you press knits as you sew them. I do...it's a habit I can't break.
SewLibra:
Next up was to pin and sew the lining to the fashion fabric, right sides together, matching shoulder seams and V neck.
