M6036: My first tank! and Self Stitched September

Can you guys believe that I've been sewing for over a year and I just sewed my first top for me last night? I mean, that's kind of crazy, right? I think my reluctance to sew tops has been that I've never had a hard time finding things that fit in RTW, so I was more concerned with sewing those pieces that were difficult for me to find in stores - namely skirts and dresses. I tend to gravitate towards knit tops because they're comfortable and can be easily dressed up or down. Over the summer, I figured it was about time to sew a top or two and have several planned for fall.

In the meantime, I wanted a white tank to wear on our flights to Hawaii, but struck out when I tried to buy one this weekend. I remembered I had a little bit of off white rayon jersey left over from a wrap sweater I made for a friend's mom (oops, still need to blog that!), which I had specifically earmarked for a tank and never got around to sewing. I pulled it out and thought I'd try M6036, the scoopneck tank version. The "crafty" parts of this pattern are sooo not my style, but the basic tank looked good.

I traced the XS and added 1 inch in length. I also sewed it up with slightly larger seam allowances to make it smaller all over, but eventually needed to nip it in a bit more through the waist. I used a twin needle on the neckline, arm and bottom hems to make it look more RTW.

All told, this was easily the simplest and fastest project I've worked on yet - talk about instant gratification! And the best part - I absolutely LOVE the finished tank! It is exactly what I was hoping for and wound up being cheaper than buying one from the store. There isn't anything particularly exciting about the pattern, but it's very similar to my favorite RTW tank top and I'm thrilled to now be able to make my own. I am so pleased with it that I permanently adjusted the pattern pieces through the waist and then whipped up a navy blue version and have a coral one waiting in the wings. While this tank will be perfect for traveling, it's also a great work basic that will look good on its own or layered under a sweater. I feel like I can never have too many basic knit tops. :)

No pictures of it on me yet, though. Why? I'm sure many of you have heard about "Self-Stitched September" hosted by 'So Zo...'. Several sewing bloggers that I follow had talked about participating and I was intrigued by the challenge, but really didn't think I had enough pieces to make it through an entire month wearing at least one garment that I made each day. Instead, I thought I'd do a mini-version while we were on vacation, since my planned dinner outfits all included at least one thing that I've made. I skipped September 1st, but on the 2nd and 3rd wore a dress and skirt that I had made without even thinking about it. I started reconsidering the challenge, added up the pieces I had to work with and realized that I probably had enough to make it through the entire month. :) Franky, I was pretty shocked. Don't get me wrong, it's still going to be a challenge, even just commiting to wearing *one* piece a day. The one gaping hole was not having any tops to work into the rotation, which you can see I sort of solved yesterday.

I think what I'll do is post my outfits up to this point tomorrow, then do one big post recapping the Hawaii days and then group the rest every 5 days or so. That way, it shouldn't be too many outfit posts throughout the month. I'm really excited by the challenge and hope I'm able to make it all work!