Colette Sobretto Tank Part 2

Colette Sobretto Tank Part 2

Sewing

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Sobretto Tank, Colette Patterns

As you know, I recently made my second Sobretto Tank, by Colette Patterns. For my first post, which describes how I fitted the pattern to myself, click here. This is my second post, which describes my embellishments. If you would like to see the ways other people have embellished the Sobretto Tank, check out my Pinterest board here.

I am very interested in fabric manipulation, especially smocking. While surfing the web, I found this example of ribbon smocking, and decided to give it a try. I found this tutorial of how to smock ribbon.smockingribbontrim

I couldn’t figure it out until I checked out a tutorial for shell smocking fabric, which is a kind of Canadian smocking. Here is the graph that I used.

shell-smocking-graph

Shell Smocking Graph From Sewn Up by TeresaDownUnder

That helped me to figure out how this worked. So, here is the result, where is am almost finished tacking the smocked ribbon down to the neckline of my Sobretto. You can see both the front and the back of the ribbon, which is a one-inch polyester grosgrain ribbon that is smocked with matching thread. I chose an orange sorbet color, as the fabric already had some much pink in it.

Tacking Shell Smocked Ribbon To Sobretto Tank

Tacking Shell Smocked Ribbon To Sobretto Tank Neckline

The ribbon trim is supported by a self-drafted continuous facing. The facing is made from some batiste that I had left over from making my daughter’s baptismal gown years ago. It is interfaced with a very light knit fusible interfacing.

To fancy-up the top a bit more and to cover the tacking stitches in the middle of the shells, I decided to add a few seed beads to each of the shells.

Auditioning Beads For Shell Smocked Ribbon Trim on Sobretto Tank

Auditioning Beads For Shell Smocked Ribbon Trim on Sobretto Tank

I decided to use the first three beads on the ribbon trim. You can also see the herringbone weave of the fabric.

Beaded And Shell Smocked Ribbon Trim On Sobretto Tank

Beaded And Shell Smocked Ribbon Trim On Sobretto Tank

I made a tiny hem, so that I can tuck this top into my skirt/pants.

Hem Of My Sobretto Tank

Hem Of My Sobretto Tank

And finally, I added a hand embroidered label, so that my husband will know what to do with this when he is doing the laundry. Thread lingerie carriers (not shown) were added to the shoulder seams, so that I can attach the top to the straps of my brassier.

Washing Label

Washing Label

And again, there is my final result. I am really happy with the results and will be making more Sobretto Tanks. They will be perfect to wear under a suit jacket during the Summer.

Sobretto-2-final-1

Me In My Ribbon Embellished Sobretto Top

There are few changes that I might make to this top. The first thing that I might do is raise the neckline a small amount. When I tried this top on, under a suit jacket, it seemed pretty low. With the bias binding, it would have been slightly higher. I might also add sleeves. There are lots of patterns for adding sleeves to the Sobretto on the web. Also, I would like to try other sorts of fabric manipulation. For inspiration, I put together a Pinterest board of other Sobretto tops that other people have made and other embellishments that might be great on the Sobretto. People are very creative! I will definitely be trying some of these out.

Happy Sewing!

Apr 16, 2015
Colette Sobretto Tank Part 1

Colette Sobretto Tank Part 1

Sewing

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Sobretto Tank By Colette Patterns

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I am really enjoying the Sobretto Tank by Colette Patterns, which you can see to the right. The pattern is free to download on the Colette Patterns website. Click here if you would like to download the Sobretto Tank pdf pattern. You can find a pattern for an optional sleeve here or here. Alternatively, you could draft your own sleeve using standard techniques (here is a tutorial on Threads).

The Sobretto is a very simple pattern (only two pieces) for a lovely pull over tank, with a center inverted box pleat and trimmed with bias binding at the neckline/arm holes. I find that the shoulders are exactly the right place to cover my bra straps, which I really appreciate. This is a classic pattern that is easy to modify for different looks and can be made with a wide range of fabrics. I will make the Sobretto many times in the future, especially to wear to work under a suit jacket.

The primary pattern adjustment was a FBA. Additionally, I adjust the placement and the angle of the shoulder seams, as well as the placement of the side seams.

The first time I made the Sobretto, I tried a fancy FBA that Sandra Betzina described in her book Fast Fit: Easy Pattern Alterations for Every Figure (or maybe it was Power Sewing Step-by-Step). I must have not done it correctly as this particular FBA caused all sorts of other problems. that had to be corrected by taking in a lot of fabric with princess darts. Also the neck gaped and my bra showed through the arm holes. It was a good thing that I used some inexpensive quilting fabric as a wearable muslin.

The second time I made the Sobretto, I had much better success. This time, I did a traditional FBA, which didn’t cause any problems that required fixing with darts, etc. I also eliminated the box pleat.  As always, I tried out my adjusted pattern with a muslin. Below, you can see the front of my muslin, which shows the FBA (green) and marking (from when I tried on the muslin) showing where the side seam should go (purple).

Sobretto-2-muslin-FBA

Fit Adjustments To Muslin Of My Sobretto Tank Pattern

 

If you need a good tutorial for a FBA, click here, or check out many other tutorials available on the web and in books. I still had to adjust the shoulder and side seams. I think these are going to be standard modifications for me.

All of these modifications worked out perfectly. Here is my final product.

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Me In My Sobretto Tank Squinting Into The Sunlight.

 

In my next post, I will review all of the embellishments that I made to this top.

Apr 11, 2015

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