happy tuesday everyone! as you can tell i have been slacking on my posts, but jessica is here to save the day! thank you!! her awesome blog over at happy together is super cute and she has created so many great projects. if you haven’t checked it out then go do it! (after reading this post of course) :)
Hi! My name is Jessica and I am from
Happy Together.
I’m a full time momma and Coastie wife who loves to create. I share all kinds of things over at my little place on the web.
I am honored to be here and do a little guest post for Kristen as she has a lot on her plate right now :) I totally know how that goes!
The above picture is a shirt from Anthropologie. It is similar to the one that a reader suggested I do a tutorial for. It’s so cute, why not? I wasn’t able to find any fun knits in time to do this, but as you can see, a lot of fabrics will work. It’s all about the look you are going for.
To make this, you will need a knit tank top, some fabric, scissors, pins, measuring tape, and all the sewing stuff. Make sure you use the correct sewing machine needles for the type of fabric you are working with. The following tutorial is just kind of a broad how to, as each persons tank top will be different.
I started off by measuring the height of the shirt to determine how tall my layers should be. I made mine smaller than in the pic because I was working hard to use up scraps.
Then measure across from side seam to side seam. You want the length of each tier to be a few inches longer than this. You want to be able to ruffle it, but not too much or it might get too bulky. Your final tier pieces will just be long rectangles.
Once you have cut out your pieces, baste and gather them. Pin your first bottom layer on first. Make sure it is at an angle.
Then sew it on with a zigzag stitch. This will allow for some give so the fabric will still stretch. Not the prettiest, but the other layers will cover it up and we will make the last one on top look good. Repeat this for the other tiers, except the top one.
Once you get to the top layer, place it on upside down. The right side of the fabric will be facing the tank. Pin the top of the tier where it where it will be sewn. Zigzag stitch across it, then fold fabric down. No funny zigzag line showing!
I like the addition of the extra pleats and ruffles, so I made to pleated pieces to go to the side. I honestly just pleated some scraps and then cut them to look nice when I pinned it on.
I sewed these in place with a long straight stitch.
For the neck ruffle, I wanted it to look a bit cleaner, so I folded the top down towards the wrong side of the fabric and sewed in place. Then I basted and gather a little farther down, pinned it on, and sewed it on with a long straight stitch.
You can really do some fun things with ruffles and pleats. Use your imagination and have some fun. I’m sorry I don’t have any pics of it on a person, but I’m currently without a photographer to help me out.
6 Comments
So glad to be here today :) Thanks for having me!
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Great knock-off. It is beautiful!
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That’s so pretty!!! I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing.
–Anne
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I was drooling over that top at Anthropologie!
Great tutorial, thank you
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Great Stuff! I really love the shirt. Do you have them for sale? I’d love to make one but I don’t know how to sew, so to me this project looks very overwhelming :)
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This is absolutely gorgeous! I’m so making this!!! =)
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