Today, I'm excited to be doing a tutorial swap with Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking. Suzannah has shared a really cute tutorial for an Anthropologie-inspired top - I can't wait to make this!
Also, be sure to click through to her blog to see what I'm up to over there!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hi there, friends at One Pearl Button!
I'm Suzannah and I run the blog Adventures in Dressmaking, where I share my sewing, crafty and home decor projects. I am fairly new to blogging but I have so much fun posting about my projects and learning about everyone else's in the blogosphere!
I found One Pearl Button not long ago and I just love Alli's style and fun projects! I'm really excited to do this swap with her, and hope you all enjoy reading our tutorials!
Anyway, today on One Pearl Button I'd like to show you all a tutorial for a tank I copied from Anthropologie's Winding Road tank.
This lovely and versatile tank is all cotton and $48 (which is not all that much in Anthrodollars, but is a heck of a lot to pay for a tank). And honestly, it looked pretty easy to copy, so I went for it!
I used a $5 tank from Old Navy (they very often have a $5 special on all their tees) and a tired old long-sleeved lightweight tee from Gap. It had shrunk, and I had expanded, since I bought it, plus it got washed with something purple that blend, and... long story short, it was not wearable. I had no problem cutting it up!
So I hope you can find similarly cheap materials to do this tutorial with. You could also use cotton knit from JoAnn (you'd only need about 1/4 yard) in the same color as your tank, or just make a tank from scratch (it's pretty shapeless and easy if you have another tee to use as a pattern). In my case, though, this is a 100% recycled project!
Here's the tutorial.
I used 12 16" long strips, and I found at the end of my project that they needed to be only 1" wide. You could also do them on the bias, if you have enough fabric. I cut too many strips but I'm sure I will turn them into ruffles for another grey t-shirt project!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my tutorial and please stop by my blog, Adventures in Dressmaking, to see more sewing, crafting, painting, decorating, and design! See you around!
~Suzannah
Also, be sure to click through to her blog to see what I'm up to over there!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hi there, friends at One Pearl Button!
I'm Suzannah and I run the blog Adventures in Dressmaking, where I share my sewing, crafty and home decor projects. I am fairly new to blogging but I have so much fun posting about my projects and learning about everyone else's in the blogosphere!
I found One Pearl Button not long ago and I just love Alli's style and fun projects! I'm really excited to do this swap with her, and hope you all enjoy reading our tutorials!
Anyway, today on One Pearl Button I'd like to show you all a tutorial for a tank I copied from Anthropologie's Winding Road tank.
This lovely and versatile tank is all cotton and $48 (which is not all that much in Anthrodollars, but is a heck of a lot to pay for a tank). And honestly, it looked pretty easy to copy, so I went for it!
I used a $5 tank from Old Navy (they very often have a $5 special on all their tees) and a tired old long-sleeved lightweight tee from Gap. It had shrunk, and I had expanded, since I bought it, plus it got washed with something purple that blend, and... long story short, it was not wearable. I had no problem cutting it up!
So I hope you can find similarly cheap materials to do this tutorial with. You could also use cotton knit from JoAnn (you'd only need about 1/4 yard) in the same color as your tank, or just make a tank from scratch (it's pretty shapeless and easy if you have another tee to use as a pattern). In my case, though, this is a 100% recycled project!
Here's the tutorial.
- Cut up your trim material (in my case, the long-sleeved tee). Cut it into strips of even widths.
I used 12 16" long strips, and I found at the end of my project that they needed to be only 1" wide. You could also do them on the bias, if you have enough fabric. I cut too many strips but I'm sure I will turn them into ruffles for another grey t-shirt project!
- Sew the strips together, all right sides together, and press the seams open.
- Now here's the fun part. Using the picture as a guide, draw/sketch along your shirt where you want the trim pieces to go. A fabric marker would be best here but I don't have one so I used a Sharpie!
- Now, using your machine, sew the first row of trim on--right sides together--directly on top of the marker lines. Use a 1/2" seam allowance (ignore the width of my strip--I ended up trimming it all down after I sewed them on.)
- Repeat with the next couple of rows, just half an inch below. Once you're done sewing your strips down, even them up at the bottom:
- And sew directly on top of all four rows, at the shoulder and at the bottom/side seam.
- Trim it up (and in my case, I trimmed down the width of all the strips till they looked better)
- Try it on to make sure it lays right, but there you are--all done!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my tutorial and please stop by my blog, Adventures in Dressmaking, to see more sewing, crafting, painting, decorating, and design! See you around!
~Suzannah
18 comments:
thanks Suzannah and Alli! this is so lovely :D cant wait to try it !
This is so inspiring, I usually run away from sewing projects. But, I think I will attempt this one.
This is very cute, and really done on the cheap.
Wow, that is a really neat idea. Thank you for sharing!
The tank is really cute and it doesnt seem to difficult to make!! Thanks
genius. great post.
Wow, this is such a great tutorial! And it doesn't seem too hard to make. I love it!
Lovely!
Love this!
Oh Anthro, you are so well loved! I also blogged about that magical place tonight! Welcome to the blogworld, Susannah! What a cute tank! :)
yours could easily mistaken for the real thing -- nice work! :)
I have been lusting over that Anthro tank for some time now! Yours turned out just like it! This reminds me that I need to learn to sew...one day.
I will be making this one for spring. Greay tutorial. How does it wash?
So glad you like it, ladies!
Jennifer, I haven't had a problem but I only washed it once. On some of my other tanks I've used iron-on interfacing on the back to strengthen the knit from the weight of the ruffles on the front, but this one doesn't seem to need it since the fabric pieces on the front are just one layer at a time, no ruffles, less weight.
And the trim doesn't ravel in the wash because it's a knit!
I can see that you have skill, and it's great, but my god.
I read this great article recently called "DIY is not Duplicate It Yourself". You should read it.
Copying another designers work down to the details is not okay, even if the original does cost far too much.
Just my take on it.
BYS - you raise a valid concern, thank you for bringing it up. The ethics of inspiration are certainly something that we should all think about. In this case, however, I don't believe Suzannah is being unethical, and I don't have a problem leaving the post being on my blog. This is simply because I can't see the tutorial affecting sales of the the tank - it seems to me that those who would be interested in buying it wouldn't be interested in making it, and those who would be interested in making it wouldn't be interested in buying it. Additionally, Suzannah is not making any profit off of the design, since she's shared it for free (if she were, say, selling her own version of the tank on Etsy, that would be a different matter). Of course, in the end it comes down to what the designer thinks - if I were approached by someone from Anthropologie about it, I would immediately remove it. I believe the comfort level of the original designer is always at the heart of whether or not something is ethical.
Again, thanks for raising the point. I have many friends and acquaintances who have been negatively impacted by copying, and it is a serious issue that we shouldn't ignore.
Excellent job.
I'm one of those who would never buy it but might just make it.
this is in response to a question about copying someones work...I agree with Allie as far as making one for yourself vs selling it to others. There is also no claim that this is in fact a top from the designer to fool someone into thinking they are getting the exact top. Unfortunately once the picture is out there, they expect copy cats and I know that they religiously police the internet looking for counterfit goods and would shut someone down in about 5 seconds if they thought that was going on. So for the most part you are safe to make your own version, just don't pass it off as the original or mass market them.
Post a Comment