Here’s a dump of photos of the Wiksten Tanks I’ve made.
#1. This is the first one I made. I sewed it without prewashing the fabric first. BIG MISTAKE! It became like a vegetable. Plus the neckline is too low 😦 I’ve still worn it a couple of times. Mostly to sleep.
Wearing my hideous first Wiksten Tank on the beach in Koh Phangan, summer 2014
#2. This is the one I made at The Workroom during the Wiksten Tank class. Made me want to ditch our Singer machine for a Bernina! Not happening any time soon though! The fabric is some quilting cotton covered in poppies, which I realize might be sort of inauspicious. I like it anyway.
Posing after eating really spicy Panang curry in Koh Phangan.
#3. This is the one I made out of some adorable fabric covered in seals!
A Wiksten tank made out of seals. Can you spot the pocket?
#4. And this again is the dress with the upside-down fish, taken somewhere within Forbidden City during our trip to Beijing.
So after making a bunch of Wiksten Tanks (pics later), I bought some cool fabric thinking I’d make matching tank tops for my twin Jessica and me. My thought process behind choosing this fabric: we are pisces and her wardrobe is full of black, white, grey, and stripes. So I thought this might add a bit of colour. Um, a lot of colour.
UMMM what was I thinking???
Lucky for Jessica, I didn’t have enough of the fish fabric to make two tank tops. So I decided to make myself a dress instead. With an elastic waistband (because the dress looks like a mumu on me otherwise) and pockets (because I hate carrying a purse. In fact, I don’t really own one).
Evan took this picture of me when we rode our bikes up to the bluffs. FUN!!! Filed under “Photos taken by ex boyfriends”
Mods
raised neckline by 3/4”
S in armholes, neck, but traced between XS and S for side seam
added pockets using this tutorial. (Next time adjust from 1/2″ to 5/8″ to match the 3/8″ seam allowance. I don’t know what I’m talking about here but I feel like I should remember this note for next time.)
added an elastic (made it up): cut out a bias casing from fabric, 3″ wide, as long as the dress. Sewed it along waistline.
Mistakes
LOL the fish are upside down.
the fish are upside down!!!! What was I thinking?
the bias tape facing at the neckline and armholes doesn’t lay flat. I think that next time for the first step I’ll sew it at a 1/4” seam allowance (instead of 3/8”) — is this an error in the pattern? I don’t know. Or use this tutorial from grainline for getting bias necklines to stay flat
the bunching of the fabric because of the elastic waist looks a bit awkward but I don’t really care that much.
NEXT TIME:
Try cutting the top part and the skirt part separately. Would eliminate some of the bunching.
Sometime in 2009, prompted by a section of The Artist’s Way, I made a list of ten things I wanted to do at some point. I’ve since lost the list but I remember that two of the things were learning some form of martial arts and taking up sewing.
Fast forward to 2014. I enrolled in the Sewing Machine Essentials and Wiksten Tank classes at the workroom last month. As someone who doesn’t spend that much time in the west end of Toronto (I live near the Beach), I found out about the workroom in a roundabout way. I’d made a fun hat using a Wiksten pattern that I’d purchased through Ravelry.
Wearing my Snöflinga hat whilst looking at dirty snow at the beach.
Soon I found myself on the Wiksten Made website, where I came across the Wiksten Tank pattern. After a bunch of Googling and clicking I discovered Karyn’s blogpost about all the tanks she’d made using the pattern — and that Karyn ran the workroom.
~~ instant inspiration ~~
I signed up for classes and now I’ve pretty much quit knitting to sew stuff instead. My poor stash of yarn is languishing in a pile by the window like dried-up once-soggy ramen. I’ve sewed a bunch of things since.
The first thing I sewed (during the class) was a cushion cover. My cushion is poufy and ugly.
The first thing I ever sewed.
Then I learned how to make zipper pouches on the Internet.
Peggy Pointer zipper pouch using this zipper pouch tutorial from Pink Polka Dot Creations.Underwear Tiger zipper pouch using same tutorial as above. I made the patch thingy out of felt.Underwear Tiger zipper pouch using this Half-Circle Zippered Pouch tutorial from Lula Louise.
Then I made a bunch of zipper pouches featuring a linocut print of my design — meet Commander Catfield and Félicette, the first cat in space! These will be for sale at Story Planet.
Cats in Space pouches arranged in the shape of a STOP sign.Assortment of random zipper pouches/coin purses.Commander CatfieldFélicette
A post with all the Wiksten Tanks to come. I should probably warn you that I know nothing about buying fabric and I think I have no taste. You’ve been warned!
justina forever 