As you may be aware (because I may or may not be a little obnoxious around this time each year), August is my birth month! Over the last two years, I have started a tradition of spending the month of August sewing up beautiful things as a birthday gift to myself. This year has been no different, aside from the fact that most of my garments are stretchy and comfy this year!
Early in my pregnancy, I found a couple of great pairs of maternity shorts at Target which have been seeing me through casual everyday life this summer. However, my top options in my current wardrobe get slimmer by the day, so I’ve been trying to focus on making a few cute handmade tops that I can wear with my maternity shorts now, and hopefully with whatever I like in the future!
When IndieSew hosted the shop’s “Great Tank Bonanza” earlier this summer, I took the opportunity to invest in a few great staple patterns while they were on sale. I had loved the look of the Pony Tank, so this was one I grabbed up right away. I am a huge fan of V-Neck lines, and both the tank and dress options looked like something I could pull off during and after pregnancy.
I decided to stick with a size 4 when cutting this pattern, due to my current bust measurement and the fact that the hip / waist is essentially free sized thanks to the A-line shape. I am finding that if I make things too oversized, I lose my shape entirely and look like a bit of a walking tent! This size worked out perfectly for me, and I made no other adjustments to the pattern.
Let me tell you about the BEST bit of this pattern – that V-Neck. Sewing with knits remains a tad bit daunting to me, and a v-neck only raises that fear factor higher! I’ve seen many a wonky V-Neck posted by other (more experienced!) sewists, so I’ve always shied away from this silhouette with knits, despite it being my favorite neckline shape. I was a little nervous going into construction on this top, but I could not have been more pleased with the result. The details provided by Adrianna in the instructions are perfection, and I came out with a beautiful V-Neck band on my first try. No unpicking needed. It doesn’t get better than that!!
My other favorite thing about this top is this fabric. It encapsulates lots of things that I love – black and white stripes, big beautiful tropical flowers, and incredible softness. This is a single brushed poly spandex from So Sew English fabrics, which means that the outer printed bit is brushed, giving it that soft almost slightly fuzzy feeling, while the inner is still smooth and feels so great against the skin. So Sew English is a new shop to me, and I have been singing their praises ever since my first package arrived in the mail. Their fabrics seem so quality to me, and the colors are vibrant and beautiful. I’ve been filling you in on some of my DBP woes as I’ve been sewing things up this summer, and I’m so happy to report that I’ve had NO issues with any of the fabrics I received from SSE being finicky with my feed dogs! This stuff is absolutely wonderful, and I’ve been stalking the website off and on trying to decide what I will order next!
If you are in the market for a great tank or some beautiful knit fabrics, I hope this post has had you covered today! I’m so happy with this make, and I’ve loved throwing it on ever since I made it. As always, both the pattern and the fabric are linked below to make your life easier – make up your own version and we’ll be Pony Tank twins!
Top: handmade by me
Pattern: Chalk and Notch Patterns – Pony Tank
Fabric: Tropic Vertical Stripe – Single Brushed Poly Spandex from SoSewEnglish Fabrics
Though the fabric used in this post was generously provided to me by SoSewEnglish Fabrics, all opinions expressed are my own, as always!
- XX Elizabeth
