Ottobre 02/2014 “Till Dawn” Jersey Top

Several months ago, I decided that I could use some shirts in non-neutrals to wear with all of the black and gray cardigans I own. So I found two pieces of rayon jersey in my stash, cut out some pretty simple patterns from Ottobre, and then left the cut out shirts sitting on the end of my ironing board for weeks on weeks on weeks. I finally got around to sewing them up in the week before Christmas. And while one of them was a flop (and was featured as #5 on my Top 5 Misses list), I’m pleased with how this one turned out.

This is the “Till Dawn” V-neck Jersey Top from the Spring 2014 issue of Ottobre Woman. It is just a basic tank, but uses a half lining (kind of like one of those useless shelf bras that they sometimes put in camisoles) to clean finish the neckline and armholes. I didn’t notice until after I’d cut my fabric out that the pattern calls for a jersey with 30% stretch—the rayon-spandex jersey I used has about 60% stretch. If I was wiser, I would have also taken note of the fact that the pattern photo shows a shirt that skims the body rather than being fitted, and that the tank is fairly long. However, I noticed none of these things and had to adjust for them all after the fact.

I found the instructions on this pattern a little bit confusing. I’ve never lined a garment like this before and managed to majorly screw up the armholes the first time. I ended up cutting the armhole seams off and re-sewing them the right way. The trick is to imagine the right side of the neckline as your “home position.” From this position, you twist the pieces to get the right sides to match just for the half of the armhole that you are sewing (the other half of the armhole will be enclosed in the fabric), sew the seam, and then turn it right side out so that you are back at your “home position.”

The instructions for sewing the side seams and attaching the elastic to the bottom of the lining were also confusing and possibly had a step or two missing. I just ignored them and added elastic to the bottom of the lining pieces first, and then sewed up the side seams in one go. I also substituted fold-over elastic for the clear elastic called for in the pattern since it’s more flexible.

As far as sizing goes, I started with the same size blending I’ve been doing with the other Ottobre patterns I’ve made–46 at the shoulders, blended to 48 at armscye, to 50 at waist, to 52 at the hip. I also added ½” of extra length to the center front of the lining, blending to nothing at the sides of the lining piece. Of course, if I had realized before cutting into my fabric that the pattern calls for a jersey with moderate stretch, I would have cut a smaller size. Instead, I just ended up taking this in a ton as I was sewing—I removed a total of 3.5” through the body and pinched out additional width under the arm to remove armhole gape. Ottobre shirts seem to run a bit long for me, but this one was especially so. I cut two inches off the bottom and then folded up a slightly deeper hem then called for.

Anyway, that seems like a lot of work and detail for a straight-forward tank top, but I like the end result even more than I expected to. It looks a bit more polished than the cheap layering tanks I’ve bought from Old Navy before. I like the color and the fabric and the shape of the neckline is perfect. I’ll definitely be wearing this one a lot this spring.