Hey friends, I made a second outfit for my Fit Capsule as part of Greenstyles challenge. I went old school and picked the Inspire Tights because this fabric is rad and I didn't want to break it up or block it.

Both my top and my tights are part of the capsule. My tank is Striped Swallow Designs Harbor Knot Tank (simple version.) and I pieced it together from some scraps, hence the seam at the shoulders. I told myself it just looks sporty. :P It's made from the 125gsm ABP from Surge Fabric. I bought 2 yards and made my husband a workout tee and a pair of Comox unders to match for Valentine's. I had just under 3/4 of a yard so I picked up my modified HKT and pieced together the shoulder part and now I have an awesome, perfectly my style tank to throw on with all the tights I've been sewing. 

This is the third time I've made the Inspire tights. The last time was in 2015 when I tested the pattern! I completely forgot that I could eliminate the side seam, so naturally I cut it wrong and had to sew the side seam anyway. The only modification that I made was to use the gusset piece from the stride tights which is a little bigger than the one in the inspire tights. I cut the crotch area with the stride pattern and then cut the rest with the inspire pattern. 

This rad fabric is also from Surge. It is the premium athletic. With one yard I was able to get enough fabric for these tights and the power bra! I haven't sewn that one up yet, but it's stacked up in my "to sew" pile. For anyone wondering, the premium athletic is a great, thick material. It is less compressive than circular knit, but it has plenty of compression for workout tights. It would be nice for late winter or spring running, or obviously just dorking around the house. :)

For anyone who is feeling the basics more, Surge has quite a few solid colors of the premium athletic fabric, too! If you are on the fence, I definitely recommend trying this!

Side note: I reversed cover stitched all the seams to add style and strength. I DO NOT RECOMMEND trying to cover stitch the inner leg seam. It literally almost killed me. Hahaha

Details:

Top: Harbor Knot Tee, Simple (modified, blogged about here.)

Fabric: 125gsm ABP in Charcoal

Size: XS

Bottoms: Inspire Tights

Fabric: Premium Athletic 

Size: Small

Something strange happened yesterday in Washington. The sun came out. I don't know whether to squint or hide or curl up like a cat under the rays indoors... so naturally, I did the last option. I also managed to snag some pictures of my new favorite tank top, too. This perfectally mimics my absolute favorite RTW tank that I wore all Summer for about the last 9 years. It's plain, simple, and solid black and now it unfortunately has a hold near the bottom. Thank god I sew. <3

 

This is the Harbor Knot Tank Add On pattern from Striped Swallow Designs. It comes with the "knot version and a simple tank version.

 

 

I sewed the simple tank version and took off about 4 inches from the waist. (1" on each front and back side) Next time I'll only take off only about 3" or 3.5" to give me some breathing room. :)

 

 

If you can't already tell, it's certainly the fabric that makes this top special. This is the strike off print from Bare Necessities Fabric elephant print. This is a great weight, super stretchy cotton lycra that is perfect for all of you boho babes.

 

Bare Necessities Fabric is run by a great girl, Michelle McLeay. She's very active in her Facebook group, keeps customers updated and churns out amazing design ideas all the time. I really like that she has a nice mix of adult and child prints, too. Bare Necessities Fabric is run out of BC so all the prices are in CAD. You can snag a yard of this gorgeous elephant print for just over $20.

 I blended this with a lace back because I only had a FH to work with. I was able to squeeze out the front and some binding to match and paired it with this lace in bought in 2014! Scraps are amazing things.  

 

This is the second Harbor Knot Tank I've made in about 3 weeks. The last one actually had the knot on it and if you read my post, I said how the next one I was going to use binding. Here it is! I really love it with the binding the best. I cut the width of the neckline and armbands the same but attached RST without folding the bands in half. Once they were attached I just pressed the band under and sewed it down. So no modifications really, just a standard binding.

 

I pair it with my favorite RTW lacey bralette and I'm good to go. :)

 

Details

Pattern: Striped Swallow Designs Harbor Knot Tank Add On Simple Version Size XS

Fabric: Bare Necessities Fabric Preorder Elephants on CL

 

Preorder for this fabric ends Feb 26th so don't wait! She also has a TON of panels so be sure to check out the entire preorder here.

Hey friends! It's that a time again where I show off some more awesome Striped Swallow Designs! For my promo this month I chose the Harbor Knot Tank. The Harbor Knot Dress is already a favorite of mine. (And my husbands!) So I knew the Harbor Knot Tank would be a staple this coming Spring and Summer. Also, I've been dying to find a great racer back pattern since I found my favorite little black tank is developing a hole in it. I've owned it since I was 15 though... so I guess 10 years is a good life. Haha

I picked a really fun and floral double brushed poly from Simply By Ti Fabrics for this project. (If you like this floral, it also comes in navy! I'm sewing up a pair of jammies with it soon!) I only bought 1 yard but it was plenty for this quick tank. I sewed the low knot, slim fit, racer back tank in size XS according to my bust measurement and the sizing chart.

The Harbor Knot Tank is an add-on pattern for the Harbor Knot Tee. The best part about the tank is you can do a high knot/loose fit,

a low knot/slim fit,

a full tank back,

a racer tank back,

or a "simple tank" without the knot.

I was so excited to see that there was a racer back option because I've been searching left and right for a great pattern to recreate my favorite racer back but I didn't want to spend  $10 on a simple tank pattern yet still didn't feel comfortable enough creating it myself. I love the Harbor Knot Tank add-on because it has multiple options so you're not just paying for a simple racer back, you can make 5 different styles!

Spoiler alert. I'm only going to make one style though. Because that's how I roll. Racer back slim fit Harbor Knot is my entire life.

I made this tank like ten days ago and have worn it about 4 times already. Two of those times was to work! Nothing makes me feel better going to work than sporting a little me-made garment. In the middle of the sale I can always think to myself, 'If I can make this, I can do anything!' Helps boost the confidence. :) That's the other thing I love about this tank, it's pretty simple and quick! Add a cardigan and it becomes completely work appropriate. The knot is what makes it special, though, don't you think? It takes this otherwise casual tank to something special that can really be dressed up.

Although the weather is freezing here, I can't help but to plan some summer clothing, too. Thankful that layering is a thing! I can already tell I'll have 3 or 4 of these for 2018 and cycle out some of my less used RTW clothing.

I think for my next top I will create a binding rather than a 't-shirt' style neck and armholes. I like the binding look a little better. Feels like it dresses it up even more to me. Also, my favorite black racer back has bound armholes and neckline so I'll try to keep it as close to that as possible. :)

(Can you tell I'm freezing? It's like 35 degrees. It actually hailed right after this picture!)

I sewed this up in a quick 2 hours before work one morning. Once you get the knot part down it's a  really simple sew. Thankful to Mandalynn who created a video tutorial in the instructions so you don't have to guess!

Details

Pattern is Striped Swallow Designs Harbor Knot Tank

Fabric is DPB from Simply By Ti Fabrics

Size sewed XS

Make sure you check out the Striped Swallow Designs sewing group on Facebook where you can always receive 10% off your purchase and also check out Simply By Ti Fabrics for great deals and lightening fast shipping. :)

No affiliate links were used but I did receive the pattern and fabric for free both from separate ambassador programs with Striped Swallow Designs and Simply By Ti Fabrics.