Seven Days of SWAP - Day Six

The Shirts...

Another one of the SWAP rules for the dress contest is that you must make three tops. The three tops must coordinate with the bottoms and the jackets. To me that was a relatively easy rule because I was using three basic colors ~ red, black & white. But to add some interest to the rule I wanted to see if I could make any of the tops work with the dresses. If you have been following along, you can see that I was successful in this additional challenge.

I chose these three tops:

• Sewing Workshop Mission Tank - this is my TNT tank pattern. I have made quite a few of these because they work so well with a suit.


• Dana Silhouettes Top - this was a replacement piece. My original piece was the Jalie sleeveless turtleneck but as winter turned to spring and then turned back again, I was just tired of sewing winter clothing. So I substituted the Dana top.


• You were allowed a purchased article for the contest - so I decided that white shirts were everywhere in RTW and why reinvent the wheel. Also by taking advantage of purchasing one shirt, I could put more of my efforts into creating beautiful dresses.

The Tank:

I really wanted to do an embellished piece....not something that screamed "embellishment" but something soft and subtle that would add flavor to whatever I wore it under. As you know, I have made this tank several times and I always reach for this pattern when I want a piece of fabric to shine or I need a well-fitted garment as part of a suit...it just gives every outfit a little more character.

The Dana Top:

This was the first time that I used this pattern. I chose it because I really like the cross-over detail on the front of the top. My original choice was the pattern that I received from Julie for participating in last year's SWAP. The pattern I replaced it with was also a free pattern from Julie for making these pieces.

Fabric Used: A sandwashed silk from Fabric Mart and a cotton blend knit from Fabric.com

Notions: An embroidered lace insert from Daytona Trimmings and a crochet flower from Home Sew.

Construction Details:

Dana Top - this is a very easy pattern to make right out of the envelope. First you pick your cup size along with your pattern size and those are the pieces you cut out. There were two things that I did notice when working with the pattern that I would like to point out. One ~ this is a pattern for knits and no where in the directions did I notice instructions for stabilizing the shoulder seam. I sewed it together and noticed that the shoulder seam was wavy and realized that it needed some twill tape or seam tape to stabilize it. Went back and sewed some down and the wavyness went away. Second ~ you have to determine how much ease you want in the pattern. This version is okay but for the next one I will add just a smidge more ease through the body. Three ~ due to the nature of my knit fabric I did not finish the hems. The fabric does not ravel so I cuffed the sleeves and left the bottom hem as is. It looks fine. I will just have to see if it passes "The Wearability Factor."

And that is Day Six...