Pattern Repeats – Black Edition

I remake a lot of basic patterns and sometime wonder if I should share them or not worry about it. But I remake patterns because I really like them, and it’s fun to see different iterations of the same thing. Maybe if one color or fabric doesn’t inspire something for you, another one will.

So today I’m starting with my most seasonally appropriate (for the northern hemisphere) remake, the Tabitha Tank in a textured 100% cotton. I love that this pattern is great for cotton knits whether they have spandex or not.

I’ve made many Tabitha Tanks sewn in cotton/spandex and even a Tabitha Tank Dress made with a rib knit. Since the rib knit had more stretch I could have decreased the bands a little bit. But that’s what you learn when sewing with different kinds of fabrics.

I’ve worn my newest Tabitha so many times already. It’s really lightweight and the texture adds a cool element to my outfits.

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If you’re in the Southern hemisphere, it’s prime time to make some cozy Neves! I made matching green Neves for my husband and I in November, and we both loved them so much that I bought some cotton fleece to make another matching pair. I made sure to add tags and different color neck bindings so that we could easily tell them apart.

I’ve never sewn with cotton fleece before, but I learned a lesson! When I first got this, I just put it in the washer without serging the ends because it’s a knit and I wasn’t worried about it. But then when I took it out of the wash, there were balls of fleece all over it!

I let it dry and then when I cut the pattern out, I lint rolled all of the pieces. But after I cut the pieces, more of the fabric had raw edges, so more fluff came off. When I was all finished sewing, I took a lint roller to both and then put them both in the washer. When I took them out there wasn’t any balls of fleece!

So, learn from my mistake and remember to serge the raw ends together before you wash it. When I sew cotton fleece in the future, I might not even pre-wash it if the garment I’m making is oversized. I think that’s why when you buy RTW sweaters, the insides are so soft because the fabric hasn’t been washed, and I’ve never had a cotton sweater shrink to be too small.

I finished these at the end of March, and it was already starting to get too warm for sweaters. I didn’t wear mine very much, but Dallas wore his to the cafe almost every morning until the mornings weren’t very cold either. I’m looking forward to wearing mine all next winter!

Thank you for reading today’s post and happy sewing!