Greenstyle Creations Staple Tank

Greenstyle Creations always has the trendiest patterns when it comes to activewear, but sometimes you really need a basic everyday pattern. That is why they just released the Staple Tank. It's a simple tank top that has two finishing options - banded or binding. It's perfect to wear on its own or as a layering piece.

I made this one in an athletic knit I found in my stash. It's a beautiful heathered teal color that will coordinate with many of my athletic leggings. Here I'm wearing my leggings I made with Vibrant Vapors from Zenith & Quasar. This print is currently at preorder.

I do have a swayback and did not make any adjustments for it during testing and ended up with a bit of pooling at the small of my back. I hope to correct this when I make my next Staple Tank.

I also want to note that the front and back have nearly the same amount of scoop - there may be a 1/4" difference. So it is very easy to get the front and back mixed up after you sew them together. Be sure to mark the back piece so you can easily identify it.

 

After I made my Staple Tank, I noticed it went perfectly with my Midway Bomber Jacket I recently made. You can find my blog post about it HERE.

The Staple Tank also looks amazing with the Chelsea Pants.

Grab the Staple Tank for $8.50 through Wednesday, March 27th.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Itch to Stitch Chirripo Top

Kennis at Itch to Stitch always has amazing patterns. I am in love with the newest pattern - the Chirripo Top.  The Chirripo Top is a loose fit top that has 2 options - sleeveless or with flutter sleeves. I chose to make the sleeveless and was thrilled that I found I was able to make my size (I'm a size 10 A cup in this pattern) with just 1 yard of 60" wide woven fabric.

The details in this top are beautifully made and the finishing touches in the sewing construction give you a garment that looks professionally made. The square neck yoke is a welcome addition to my closet full of round neck tops.

My friend Sharon was also a tester for the Chirripo and we met up for photos. I was taking the two photos above when she arrived to the nature preserve where we decided to meet for photos. As usual, when she arrived we began chatting about all the things that had been happening in our lives and I completely forgot that I needed to take photos of this top. I did snag several good ones of Sharon and I together.

The Chirripo is made for wovens. In particular soft drapey wovens. Sharon's Chirripo is made with a crepe (not sure if it's a rayon or poly blend). My Chirripo is made with a cotton voile. My cotton voile is soft, but probably not quite as drapey as needed. But I absolutely love how it turned out in this double border print.

You might notice in these photos that my Chirripo is a little longer than Sharon's. This is because - I made it longer - but not intentionally. My double border print did not have an even amount of border at both ends. I was doing my best to line up the design on my pattern pieces and intentionally left the extra at the bottom with the intent to cut it off before I hemmed. I then decided to keep as much of the print on the very bottom as possible and decided to only trim the back which was longer.

Since Sharon and I had found this noce shady spot on this 100 degree day, we stayed put and took photos of our second Chirripos we made. I did not realize it at the time, but in the time it took us to change tops, the sun had risen just enough to cause a bit of a sun flare in these photos. Let's just act like this was done for artistic purposes.

We both used a poly blend woven for these versions. They were light and drapey. Be sure to read Sharon's blog post at Sweet Mama Life!

The Chirripo can easily be dressed up or down. I'm wearing mine with knit slacks. I'm most likely to wear these pants with my Chirripo to work with a jacket or cardigan. While Sharon paired her Chirripo with some cute shorts and sandals for a casual but chic outfit.

I did manage to get a few photos of just me in my Orange Chirripo!

Here's a look at the back. It has the same square yoke in the back as the front. The back is just higher.

I love the way this top feels. It's so soft and silky. But this fabric was such a pain to cut! It kept shifting around. The yokes and side pieces gave me the most trouble and I think I cut out 6 yokes before I decided to just line the yoke with a cotton woven.

I love the side panel detail! It's so cool and gives the top a great shape on the sides.

The front gathers are very light - it's not heavily gathered. I gathered using my serger and had to ease them out as it had gathered them too much. But I did end up with beautifully even gathers.

The Chirripo is on sale for one week for $8! I'm eager to make one with a flutter sleeve. I'm also toying around the idea of making one with a cotton woven yoke and side panels, but a knit body.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Nature's Fabrics Bamboo Spandex Stripes

I love Bamboo fabrics - they are so soft, breathable, and feel so much cooler than cotton lycra. I've also become a fan of stripes over the past year. I use to never get stripes, but then I started finding some that I liked. I don't like simple even stripes. I love stripes that vary in spacing and size. When I saw this gorgeous gray tone on tone stripes at Nature's Fabrics that have skinny and wide stripes in varying thickness - I had to have them. 

This Bamboo spandex jersey is 66% Bamboo Viscose, 28% Organic Cotton and 6% Spandex. It is 57/58” wide and weighs 200 GSM.

It has such lovely drape and is so soft. I just had to make a maxi dress with it.

Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal supposedly because of a bacteriostatis agent unique to bamboo plants called “bamboo kun” which also helps bamboo resist harboring odors. The bamboo kun in bamboo fabric stops odor-producing bacteria from growing and spreading in the bamboo cloth allowing bamboo clothing to be more hygienic and to remain fresher smelling.

Bamboo is highly absorbent and wicks water away from the body 3 to 4 times faster than cotton. In warm, humid and sweaty weather, bamboo clothing helps keep the wearer drier, cooler and more comfortable and doesn’t stick to the skin. Which makes it perfect for the 100 degree temps we have in Texas during the summer.

Bamboo clothing is naturally more wrinkle-resistant than cotton, and while it might still require ironing after washing, bamboo fabric can be ironed at a lower temperature than cotton. Shrinkage during washing and drying is minimal at warm temperatures.

Are you ready to try some bamboo?  Nature's Fabrics has bamboo spandex jersey and bamboo jersey on sale for 20% through July 21! There are 130 bamboo spandex jersey options! Now is a great time to stock up on an assortment of solids and be sure to grab some of the gorgeous stripes!

Information on Bamboo from http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_weblog/2007/09/bamboo-facts-be.html


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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.