Attic Lace

DIY Sleeveless Blouse

I don't know about you, but my sleeveless tops aren't just for summer.  I never pack them away because even in colder weather, I like to layer them under cardigans, jackets, and pullovers. I recently picked up some new fabric for some other projects and fell head over heels for one of the prints...I had to wear it..someway, somehow I needed to have this print on me;)

I'm not an expert sewer, and I've never made a piece of clothing before, so I decided to try a simple boxy shaped tank.  I got out one of my other tank tops, that has the shape I had in mind, and lay it on top of the fabric to trace the shape.

After I traced the tank top (on the reverse side of the fabric, good sides face to face on the inside), I cut the sides of the tank which basically formed a square. I folded the square in half, doubling it over on itself, marked where the arm holes should be, and then cut (I did this so both sides would match). Then I unfolded it and cut my neck holes (based on the location of the neck hole of my pink traced tank). I cut the front of the blouse's neck hole lower than the back so that it would have a bit of a "scoop neck" in the front and wouldn't be choking me once I put it on...'cause that's no fun;) Then I folded all of the edges over about 1/2 inch, of all sides of both the front piece and back piece of the blouse, and ironed my folds flat for stitching (pinning helps here too). This will give the blouse clean edges and a nice hem at the bottom. Then I stitched all the edges to create the hems.

I knew the blouse was going to need a little something special on the front to break up the busy print so I decide to stitch a little vintage doily I had in my stash onto the collar. I folded it over the collar so 3/4 of it was visible on the front and after ironing it down, I sewed it on. I stitched it down with my machine  in several places so that it wouldn't tear off (it was fairly delicate). Then I placed the front and back halves back together (good sides face to face on the inside). I Ironed, pinned, and sewed them together leaving the arm holes and neck hole open of course. When it was all sewn together, I carefully ironed the seams flat and turned it right-side-out!

I really love the finished product, and while it may not be perfect upon close inspection...I made a shirt!! WooHoo!:) I think it would look cute like this, cinched above the waist with a belt, no? My favorite part is the doily;)

Have you ever sewn any clothing? I have a lot of learning to do and I'm sure there are way more official ways to have gone about this...let me know!

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