Hello Internet Friends!

In keeping with the sunny weather we’ve been having I have a two more summer makes to share with you! My linen Hanna Tank by Pattern Scout and another pair of Winslow Culottes by Helen’s Closet. The Winslows are one of my tried and true patterns, this is the second or third pair of shorts I’ve made from this pattern. For this iteration I used a bright yellow viscose linen noil from Blackbird fabrics. As with my previous pink pair, I opted for the elastic backed waistband, I meant to try out the slanted pocket hack with this pair but forgot when I cut the fabric (which I actually did way back in March as I had intended to finish this pair in time for my trip to Bali but then never got to sewing it until now). All of the sizing and everything has remained the same since my last pair which you can check out in this post here. I used my brand new set of wide rolled hem feet to quickly hem up this pair of culottes which meant that I was able to finish sewing the whole pair in one short afternoon! This is why I love having patterns pre-cut for me to sew, when the motivation/need to sew strikes I can just have at it!

For the Hanna tank this is my first attempt at this pattern so I decided to make a wearable muslin to test it out. For this I chose a light weight linen from my stash, also from Blackbird fabrics, and had enough out of a meter and a half to cut out both the Hanna tank and a wearable muslin of Pietra shorts! For the tank I cut a straight size 12 (the sizing was pretty much spot on for my high bust and bust!) and opted for the front tie version. I didn’t do any modifications to the length of the pattern as I figured I could roll the bottom when I tied it if it turned out too big.

Since this button up top doesn’t have a collar it was a really easy sew! Both the neckline and the arm holes are finished with bias binding (I used up some striped binding I had made in the past) making for very clean looking finishes and having done many, many meters of bias binding finishes in the past it was like muscle memory to get them finished…..

The speedy, quick, and clean finishes of the necks and armholes were a bit of a shame in the end, as soon as I had sewed it up and popped it on a hanger I knew I was going to have a fitting issue….even though I knew that this was going to be a wearable muslin I completely forgot to test baste everything together to check the fit! Rookie mistake! It ended up that the straps were way, way too long for me and I had a ton of gaping at underarm and neckline. To fix the issue I ended up unpicking my neat and tidy bias binding at both the neckline and the shoulder, and taking out 1 3/4” on the front on both the armhole and neckline and then 1” at the neckline and 3/4” at the armhole for the back piece. After trimming things to fit, and smoothing out the join between the back and front, I then shortened the bias binding and then re-attached it.

In the end, after all of that adjusting, the fit is now great! So to save myself any future heartache I quickly made the same adjustments to my pattern pieces before I forgot! In addition to adjustments I mentioned above I also added a very tiny neckline length adjustment of about 1/4-3/8” to reduce some of the excess fabric still present at the neckline, I used Cashmerette’s tutorial on how to do this, so that my next iteration will be perfect! I really love how the tank now fits and I’ve already cut out a second one, with all of the adjustments, in a floral print that I hope to sew up soon!

The look of this top really changes with what you pair it with, here’s what it looks like with my pair of Lander shorts that I made last summer. I had originally envisioned wearing this top a bunch with my Winslow culottes, and while I think that pairing looks good I think overall I like the look of the Hanna tank with slim fitting shorts a bit more than the more voluminous culottes. What do you guys think? And have you ever forgotten that you were making a wearable muslin and finished sewing the whole thing before trying it on? Let me know in the comments!