Friday, June 11, 2010

Sewing for Kiddo (Boys Tank Top Tutorial)

Can I tell you how hard it is to find tutorials for cute boys clothes out there!! I had an urge to make a simple tank top for the kiddo after work, and I only found ONE! and to be honest.....I had a hard time understanding the sizing....hmn

Sooo I decided that I could do this on my own!! I know I am very empowered right :D

Here's my process.....any suggestions will be well received!

I started out with a favorite tank of kiddo's, folded it in half, and cut around (the fabric is a thrifted pillow case)



With extra cut at the bottom and sides for seam allowance



Cut two of those on the fold (and cut about 1/2 an inch more out of the neck line to leave room for the bias binding)



Make bias binding for neck and arm holes, mine turned out to be 2 1/2 in x 18 in

**Edit for the bias binding**

I was corrected by my mother.....bias binding should be cut at a 45 degree angle...thus making it "on the bias" so that it will stretch! Like this or this

Thanks Mom!! I was wondering why it was a tight squeeze over his head!!



Sew the right sides of one of the shoulder seams together (just one!)



Pin RIGHT side of binding to the WRONG side of the neck hole and sew together
(I dont have a fancy binding maker and this way works out best for me)

Here is another explanation



Once that side is sewn, flip the garment over, then make sure the bias binding is folded so you can see the wrong side facing up. Fold the binding in half like so



Fold binding again, this time over the seam, and pin all along the neck hole (covering the exposed seam)





Top stitch close to edge of the binding (sewing through binding and garment fabric

Repeat this binding process for the arm hole under the shoulder seam already sewn together



Sew the other shoulder seam together and repeat binding process for that armhole



Sew down the sides of the garment (I like to start at the arm hole and sew down)



Fold over the bottom edge 3/8 in and then fold over again 1/2 in, pin, and sew



(funny how the light changed on this last photo....its a totally different color!)

Enjoy watching your little one play in their nice, cool, summer top!



Let me know if you try it :D

4 comments:

gardenmama said...

thank you for putting the time and energy into this tutorial! it looks very sweet on your little one! : )

Olivia Jean said...

Thank you Gardenmama!!

I so love getting comments from other bloggers....makes my day :D

milesmomma said...

Thanks for the tut. It is really really hard to find good ideas for boys. Also, I keep finding myself making things that end up looking "girly" from my little guy even though I'm about at tom-boy as they come! I followed your basic tut, but I used snaps (snap-tape!) on the shoulder. A photo will be posted on my flickr site within the week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cu_misty/

Olivia Jean said...

snap tape! what a great idea milesmomma! :D especially for the little ones...

Can't wait for the pic....I will be checking back often :)