My kingdom for a stylist: Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank

This has been loitering finished but unblogged for a couple weeks now, which has been annoying me no end and is ridiculously at odds with my urge to thrust everything I've proudly made into others' faces for them to untiringly admire. Like a toddler bringing home their first paintings from pre-school - LOOK WHAT I MADE! I know, I get it. Totally juvenile, but I still love doing it.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, this Grainline Tiny (Useless) Pocket Tank. Such an easy pattern to sew up, I muslined and made it up in no time. Take win. (N.B. no time = maybe two days? It's all Speedy Sewing Tortoise Gonzales over here.) And this being the second time I've finished necklines and armholes with bias binding, I was pleased to see that they went on even more neatly than with my Wiksten tank. Improvement, FTW! And all thanks to Grainline's own brilliant tutorial. I probably did stretch the neckline out a bit due to not staystitching the curve and yanking on it out of frustration, but it hits so low on me (hello, non-existent cleavage/lovely sternum!) that it hardly matters. Her insides are all beautifully French seamed, and once again I am pleased as punch with my pretty spot on pattern matching. I'd like to claim that perfect bust dart placement was as deliberately done as the marvellously invisible tiny (useless) pocket, but no. That was the universe throwing some excellent sewing karma my way.

That seems to be where my good karma ended with this, though. The muslin seemed to fit perfectly, but once I'd properly made it up & tried it on I decided I didn't really like the shape given by the bust darts. Through absolutely no fault of the pattern, I'm sure - a quick search through my closet revealed that 99% of my tops and dresses are either seam free or have princess seams, so clearly I've long had a bit of subliminal hate for poor side seam bust darts. That said, my much beloved tailored shirt definitely has them, so I'm hoping that the current angst with this top is just due to the slight crispness of this lovely Liberty lawn, which will no doubt soften up and mould to my contours a bit more lovingly after a few washes. Or, it could be (probably is) a fit issue, but for a quick light summer tank top I just don't think I can be bothered to work it out with this pattern when I've got the (blessedly dartless) Wiksten at hand. Anyway, it was bust dart angst that motivated the unnecessary manhandling of the poor top's neckline. I mean, really. What did this actually rather lovely top ever do to me?

And then photographing it was just a big fat fail. It took ages before the golden trifecta of sunshine, my photographer, and a bit of free time magically coincided, and then those hurried photos snatched before yet another cloud blew over just look... not cute. I need to do some serious work on my Awkward Blog Pose. Not to mention that my photographer/stylist neglected to point out that my armpit stubble was highly visible. Dearest beloved, you had one job! Although, durr, it's a sleeveless tank, woman! Guess it's time to dig out the rusty blades now that winter seems to be finally winding to a close.

Perilously pasty winter skin, angsty side bust darts and serious photo styling fail in action. Somehow I don't see this sort of thing on other sewing blogs...

I also decided that I didn't like a longer tank on my short torso, so opted to shorten it. (Using the handy 'shorten/lengthen here' lines! This was the first pattern I've sewn up that had those, so obviously I had to try them out.) It's OK from the front, less of a good idea from the back. And boy, those jeans don't fit me terribly well, do they? Talk about a wrinkly hot mess. Nevermind, now I have quite a lot of motivation to learn to sew some!

Anyway, my mission to compare those two tank patterns on my body is complete and I have my answer. I do actually love the thinner straps and more daring neckline of this tank as compared to the Wiksten, so I'm plotting a mashup of the two with an approximation of this neckline superimposed on the (dartless!) Wiksten body, a shortened hemline like this one in the front, but the longer, bum-skimming length of the Wiksten in the back. (Which may well end up looking a bit like the Named Eliot Tailcoat Top - I knew I should have just bought that pattern while I had the chance. Although, side seam bust darts!) I'm kind of over sewing tiny (useless) pockets for now, though (as excellent practice as they are in precision pressing and sewing), so I'm not sure that will make it in the final cut. I have one last piece of Liberty lawn offcut sale loveliness in the stash, so I'm hoping that the third time will prove the absolute charm for my very own, go-to, summer tank pattern.

I leave you with a couple final Awkwardly Altered Headless Photos. My Georgia making her recent debut on the dancefloor! She did me proud. And also the Tiny (Useless) Pocket Tank looking pretty good in action paired with my most recent work in progress, the BY HAND LONDON Charlotte skirt. And I will (probably) try a little harder with the photos for my next finished but annoyingly unblogged make, a much loved Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt. I mean, no one's going to pin these on their inspiration board, are they?! And rightly so.

Next up: I'll see you at the Gabriola and Flora sewalongs, shall I? Lovely summer clothing, here I come!