https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/pin-up-bow-front-tank-top • Posted by So
so it´s holday time for me and i have set up the rule that i will sew only for myself, well and family members :) no thinking about school and exams!! one morning, when i was browsing through the internet, i found these tops at some pin-up onlineshops and thought, well for that price you have to do it yourself! i grabbed an old tank top that was degraded to a sleep shirt and is now upgraded again to be my personal pattern for nearly every jersey top i made the last half of a year (if you browsed my projects you maybe recognize it) and simply duplicate it out of black jersey. the accents on this top are the bow at the front and the swirly edgings at the collar, armholes and hem. i fell in love with stripes once again and bought this red/white striped jersey a while ago. it reminds me of a candy cane :) especially at the edges where the grain isn´t straight. i think you´ll need about 0.5 metre of it, maybe a bit more because bias tape is always fabric consuming... so, may it cost 5€, depends a bit on your jersey, it´s still cheeeaaap!!!
so it´s holday time for me and i have set up the rule that i will sew only for myself, well and family members :) no thinking about school and exams!! one morning, when i was browsing through the internet, i found these tops at some pin-up onlineshops and thought, well for that price you have to do it yourself! i grabbed an old tank top that was degraded to a sleep shirt and is now upgraded again to be my personal pattern for nearly every jersey top i made the last half of a year (if you browsed my projects you maybe recognize it) and simply duplicate it out of black jersey. the accents on this top are the bow at the front and the swirly edgings at the collar, armholes and hem. i fell in love with stripes once again and bought this red/white striped jersey a while ago. it reminds me of a candy cane :) especially at the edges where the grain isn´t straight. i think you´ll need about 0.5 metre of it, maybe a bit more because bias tape is always fabric consuming... so, may it cost 5€, depends a bit on your jersey, it´s still cheeeaaap!!!
get a top you like for the shape and fit and cut out a front and a back piece out of your fabric.
decide how long you want your bow detail at the sides and cut two rectangles a bit wider than the front part of your top. this will be your actual bow. but to make it a bow you need a third smaller rectangle for the middle: cut out a rectangle twice as wide as you want the middle of the bow plus seam allowance and about 10cm long
sew together the long sides of the big rectangles (right sides facing), turn and press flat.
sew the longer sides of the small rectangle right sides facing, turn and press flat while the seam is in the middle at the backside.
pin the big rectangle to the front of your top where you wanna have the bow and cut off the excess fabric at the sides.
sew the side seams including the bow part and close the shoulder seams.
cut some bias tape out of your fabric (or use ready-made). you get bias tape if you cut the strips in a 45 degree angle to the grain/selvage). i cut 2.5cm wide strips for the collar and the hem. close the strip to a circle, fold it lengthwise, pin on right sides facing, sew, turn over and press. i discovered that this method isn´t that nice especially for armholes and maybe for the collar too because the outer edge is much longer as the seam and it will get bulky. so, i went the harder way: cut a strip that is 3cm wide, sew the ends and pin right sides facing on the armhole. sew right round, turn over, flip in the as much as the seam allowance is, flip again and secure it by topstitching or with slipstitch.
put the small strip around the bow part and sew the short edges. you can secure the raw edge at the back of the bow with some stitches.