Menu
Made by me / My makes / Sewing activewear

Open back workout top

Sometimes I get very specific design ideas in my head, and then just dive right in without doing a test garment! This workout top was an example of this approach, and in hindsight, I should have tried it before I cut into my precious Meryl activewear fabric.

 

Open backs is a huge trend in activewear right now, and I wanted to put my own spin on that design idea. It was however not an easy top to construct since the pieces drag in all kind of directions. I had to rip and re-stitch all the seams around the sleeve area to just get it to look decent, and ripping delicate soft knits is seldom a great idea, since it’s so easy to end up with a wobbly, stretched out and damaged fabric. All the struggles aside, I do love wearing the top and I can see myself making it again, but making a few changes, such as adding more drape and making the back panels slightly bigger.

 

The front looks just like a regular t-shirt, since I like the idea of making the back the full focus. The fabric was definitely tricky to work with though, very soft and stretchy, and for the first time, I got some coverstitch tunnelling on my Janome Coverpro that I couldn’t fix by changing the settings. Though I’m happy to report that after having a mechanic servicing and cleaning the machine, it seems like the problem is solved, though I think it was also due to the fabric being tricky.

 

But, whatevs, it works and I wear it the gym, so that is all that matters really. And next time I’m sure I can make it even better!

2 Comments

  • COREY
    July 14, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    Your top looks great, and wearable. This made me think about how we make things that we don’t wear. I guess that is why I am so particular about fabric choices, the pattern/design and copying existing ready to wear. It takes so much time and effort to make something and then not to wear it, is such a shame.

    Reply
    • Johanna
      July 17, 2018 at 11:02 am

      Totally! I think that is also a journey that many of us do, that we start of making things that perhaps weren’t the best fit and then we slowly discover what is our best styles and what we actually want to wear

      Reply

Leave a Reply