I had originally planned to take a sewing hiatus over the holidays and focus the extra time on life stuff and some less enticing sewing related things, such as to clear out my fabric and patterns stash, among other things. Ah the plight of keeping things (and our lives) in order, it just never ends does it?
But of course I found some fabric scraps that I could turn into another version of my workout top pattern, so, well, the cleaning had to wait!
This top is a mix of four different fabrics. The shell is a striped slub rayon/lycra, so the “pilling” is on purpose! Maybe not my favorite thing, but it is nice to use a fabric with some surface.
The bra is made of two layers rayon/lycra jersey, one softer and one stable for the lining.
And the ribbing around the neckline, arm holes and waist is a cotton/lycra rib knit.
I used the tape binder for my Janome Coverpro to cover all the edges with a knit binding. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out so well this time. As it is white on white, the wonky bits doesn’t show well in the photos. But for instance the binding slipped at one shoulder so it is very uneven, I had to rip the seam there and zigzag the tape back, but it still looks off. Also I got some messed up stitches on the inside of one of the tape, which really bummed me out since the Coverpro has been consistently producing nice looking seams on most fabrics before this mess.
But the good thing about having a blog is that I can turn my struggles into useful content and hopefully help others in the process. Therefore I’m hoping to line up an interview with an expert on sewing with a tape binder attachment and have them give their two cents as well and not just share my own tips, just like I did with my coverstitch post. So stay tuned for that in the future.
Hopefully by the end of 2017, I will get consistent good results and since I sew so much with knit fabrics, I feel it is worth investing time into mastering this craft. Also, from what I’ve heard the Babylock binder attachment is better than the Janome and probably other brands trump the Janome too.
Tape binder issues aside, I’m super happy about my top and am happy that I could use so much of my fabric scraps to make it happen!
4 Comments
Jane M
January 13, 2017 at 10:53 pmYour workout clothes just keep getting more interesting and cool. Love this new one.
Johanna
January 15, 2017 at 3:52 pmThank you!
PsychicSewerKathleen
January 14, 2017 at 7:13 pmLove your workout top but especially since it was all put together with what you had in your stash. The dangers of organizing and tidying up! I laughed imagining you rolling up your sleeves to organize, stumbling into this lovely nubby stripped fabric and having the sewing light bulb blink on, “Oh I could make a nice workout top with this!” off to the cutting table, sewing machine and all that organizing – pooh! that can wait 🙂 I REALLY look forward to reading your post on the binder attachment for your coverstitch! I have 2 of those for mine and even though I’ve been for an individual tutorial at our local shop I’m still stumped about how to use it really well. It can save time IF you can get the knack of it otherwise it can take up a whole DAY just trying to get it figured out!
Johanna
January 15, 2017 at 3:55 pmYou hit the nail on the head with binder attachment, right now it takes me more time to make it work rather than less compared to other type of finishes, so yes it is hard to motivate putting all that time into really mastering this tool. Yes fabric is very distracting, I still got some organizing left to do, maybe next X-mas holiday 🙂