WIP Wednesday

My newest WIP/Challenge-

Yes, that would be a shirt!  Ok, so a tank (I didn't want to mess with sleeves on my first attempt at sewing a garment).  I still need to add the bias binding to the shoulder seams and back, sew the shoulder seams and hem, and then serger my seams.

I did opt for a pattern with a fun little back detail.  I couldn't make this completely easy on myself :)  And turning those little straps took way longer than I care to admit. 

I learned quite a lot about (garment) patterns this week.

#1. The back of the pattern lists all of the sizes.... the front tells you want sizes are actually in the pattern you are buying.  Not to name names, but someone might not have realized that and bought a size 12-18 pattern...and is a pattern size 4. 

#2. Muslins are a really good idea!  I am usually one for avoid extra work and contemplated skipping this step and just diving right in, but since I was working with a limited amount of fabric (and bought a 10 yard bolt of muslin at Joanns for $17) I decided to do a muslin first.  So glad I did!  Apparently I can't measure myself worth a darn and thought I was a size 8... turns out I am a 4.  I thought an 8 seemed awfully big, but you always hear about patterns running small (I am an X Small/0 when I buy tops), so I just figured they run really small.  Apparently not quite that small.

#3. You cannot mix the front of one shirt with the back of another, even if they are in the same pattern package... at least not in this case.  Those four little straps were not what I was planning on, there was another back on another top that was a back V neck with a strap across the top of the V.  But I wanted this front because it was all in one piece and I didn't want to cut up my chevrons.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday and Fabric Tuesday (shhh.. don't mention I am a day late on that one :)