I have good news and bad news about the makes in this post. And since I’ve always been an “eat your vegetables first” sort of person, we’ll just get the bad news out of the way.
And that bad news would be this tank. I think that it’s just as important to share projects that flop as it is to share those that are successes, so when this tank flopped, I decided to go ahead and blog it anyway.
This is the Rumi Tank by Christine Haynes sewn up in the Bright Palms and Leave Print Rayon Jersey Knit from Cali Fabrics. Please don’t interpret this post as a dis on either the pattern or the fabric. The Rumi Tank is a nice pattern — it goes together well, the instructions are good, and the fit seems to be good also.
And the fabric is nice fabric. It is soft and flowy and has a good weight for rayon jersey. The problem is that this was a complete pattern-fabric mismatch. The Rumi tank, with its fitted design and bands, really needs a fabric with decent recovery, at least for the bands. In a jersey, that usually means it needs spandex. And this fabric doesn’t have any.
And even though the tank looks okay in these photos, it’s just uncomfortable to wear. The armholes and neckline are all floppy, and the bands don’t have enough recovery to pull the main pieces back where they belong.
So this tank was a good reminder to this too-often-lazy sewist to pay closer attention to pattern-fabric pairings. Because the wrong pairing results in a garment that goes straight into the donate bin :/
By stark contrast, Cali Fabric’s tencel denim (back in stock!!) was perfect for the Megan Nielsen Flint pants.
If you don’t nab some of the indigo tencel denim before it’s gone again, this cotton/tencel twill would be a nice choice. As would this lightweight striped denim, light blue tencel denim, dark blue tencel denim, or this black linen.
I bought this pattern on its release, and was looking for an excuse to make some amazing wide-leg crop pants for summer. This tencel denim was the perfect excuse! The fabric is the ideal weight for pants, and the tencel makes it nice and drapey, which is key for wide-leg pants like these.
Since tencel has quite a bit of drape to it, I was careful to staystitch my waistline after I cut my pattern pieces. The waistband is one of the last parts to be sewn in this pattern, and I knew that the fabric would have a tendency to stretch out as I handled the pattern pieces during construction. A line of basting stitches secured those areas very nicely!
And the result? A nicely-fitted, breezy, eye-catching pair of pants that will be great for summer date nights, and even running errands around town!
Make me feel better — tell me about your latest sewing FAIL!