5 out of 4 - Agility Tank

The Agility tank from 5 out of 4 Patterns is very versatile. It can be a swim top, workout top, or a casual dress even. It also is a lot easier to make than it looks.

First you sew the front and back (racer back portion) of the sports bra together at the shoulder seams.

Now sew the bottom half of the back of the sports bra to the front at the side seams.

Mark the lines on the back overlay piece for the pleat.

With right sides together sew along the line shown above. Then spread the fabric out and baste across the top to make the pleat.

Sew the front and back overlay pieces together at the side seams.

Now hem the under arm portion of the overlay.

Now sew 2 lines using a long stitch length across the top of the front overlay. Pull the bobbin strings to gather the front overlay.

Spread the gathered overlay evenly across the front of the sports bra. The pattern piece has marks to show where the overlay goes, but you could make the gathered portion more narrow or wider to suit your tastes. Baste the front overlay in place.

Now baste the back overly piece to the back of the sports bra lower half. The pleat will go in the very middle of the back.

Now add the binding to the neckline of the sports bra. First it is sewn onto the front as shown.

Then the binding is folded down. This can be a little tricky - I just use a ton of wonder clips as I go along. I then topstitch the binding on my coverstitch.

Now to add the binding from the bottom of the racer backside along the front of the sports bra around the lower back of the sports bra, back up around to end at the other side of the racer back.

Sew it on slowly making sure you stretch it as you go.

Then you fold and topstitch it - just like the neckline.

Now try it on and see where the racerback needs to attach to the lower back of the sports bra and also to see if you need to remove any length from the sports bra before you attach elastic or a band. Then sew it down together. I sewed it right under the binding, but I found this made the binding want to flip down when I wear it. So definitely sew it across the binding to prevent that. Now add elastic - or in my case, I just added a wide band to the bottom.

Here I am in my Agility Tank with a banded bottom and matching leggings. I used baby blue Supplex from Zenith & Quasar. This color is no longer in stock, but they have many other beautiful colors. Supplex is my go-to for any active wear. It's what is used by high end athletic wear companies.

I love the race back fit. The overlay on this is a cotton lycra from Smoogie Fabric. The design is Three Stars and is out of stock in cotton lycra, but is available in Minky and in the very popular Stained Glass Lace version (which is the print I used, but it also has a black lace print over the design).

The overlay has different armhole cut lines for different looks. You can have a lower one to show more skin - this is great for making the swimwear version. I did the higher cut line.

I also made another version with a longer overlay - but not quite the dress length - to get a tunic perfect for the hot Texas summer.

On this one, I also sized up on the overlay to make it looser. But in doing so - the armholes ended up lower than I cared for. Next time, I'll have to make sure I cut the armhole higher than the pattern piece.

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