wiksten tank with sleeves

36 Replies

I’m back from a 2-day trip to Belgium, where a friend and I spent a day at the beach and visited the beautiful city of Bruges.
I will have the pictures up in a big travel post soon, but first a little sewing to show off as promised (the first of a few posts, I hope to get the other stuff photographed this week).
I’ve been dabbling with quite a few patterns lately but I keep coming back to the Wiksten Tova and Tank Top patterns. The tank pattern especially fits me really well and is so simple and yet versatile. I decided to add cap sleeves to make it suitable to wear at work as well.

I did raise the neckline a bit (only 1/2″ I think). The fabric is a super soft cotton and psst, don’t tell anyone, but it’s a thrifted vintage bed sheet! I love the big plaids and the cheery colors but I am already planning to make at least two more of these tops in some solid voiles.

I know I keep repeating myself, but this pattern really is a joy to work with, it’s simple and quick, has super nice french seams and fits great without any adjustments. I predict many more tank tops to follow 🙂

36 thoughts on “wiksten tank with sleeves”

    1. tidytipsy

      Thanks Lynda! Thrifted bed sheets are actually perfect, because they’re usually cotton and because they’ve already been washed hundreds of times they are so soft and comfy 🙂

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  3. Neus

    ohhh great!! I’ve been very busy, but I’m ending my first Wiksten top! Jenny is an artist, her designs fits really good! Have a wonderful weekend!!

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    1. tidytipsy

      Neus, thank you and yes, I have never had patterns fit me so great as Jenny’s do! Can’t wait to see your top :))

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    1. tidytipsy

      Thanks Sherrie 🙂 The fit of these is really good, I’ve been dabbling with some other patterns the whole week and nothing came of it but frustration as I couldn’t get them to fit 😦

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      1. sherrieg

        I’m so glad to read about your frustration, too – I have a couple of sewing projects that I want to tackle this summer, so that will put me in a better frame of mind going in! 🙂

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        1. tidytipsy

          Sherrie, frustration is part of learning to sew…it’s a great skill to have, but it takes practice, practice, practice. With every piece I do I learn something new and sometimes things don’t work and then it’s better to leave them alone for a while and come back to them later. And after having been totally frustrated about this one vintage pattern I was trying to make fit I think I have finally found a way to make it work for me…in a completely different way than I had originally intended. We’ll see 🙂 So you see, it’s worth to keep trying.
          But I hope you’ll have no such frustrations. What are you going to make??

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  6. Sherrie

    Thanks for the encouragement! I’m planning on making a simple skirt and a hat. They’ll be the first things I’ve ever made to wear, so I’m going they turn out okay. And that it doesn’t take me all summer to make them! 🙂 I’m on holiday right now, and am hoping to pick up some fabric this week. We’ll see how it goes!

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    1. tidytipsy

      Have a nice holiday! Hope you have lots of fun sewing your first clothes 🙂 The biggest problem for me is getting impatient and rushing through things and then making mistakes and ugly seams, so take it nice and slow 😉

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      1. Sherrie

        I think that we might have the same problem! I actually found a perfect hat (already made and everything!) the other day for half price, made here in Canada, and gorgeous, so I bought that. I’m still planning on the skirt, though, so I’ll let you know how it goes. It looks quite a bit easier than the hat, so I’m hoping for success!

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        1. tidytipsy

          That sounds great, I always go for easy pieces as well to build my skills slowly. Definitely let me know how it goes!!

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  8. stephanie

    Hi! I love the top – I have just bought the tank pattern and I can’t wait to sew something up!
    How did you add the sleeves? I mean, can you point me in the right direction to draft a sleeve pattern or did you adapt a cap sleeve from another pattern?
    Thanks for your help!

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    1. tidytipsy

      Thanks Stephanie! I actually used the sleeve cap from the Tova pattern and only made it cap sleeves instead of long gathered sleeves. If you have any sleeve pattern I would suggest trying out if it fits and making alterations to it until it does 🙂

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  9. Tammy

    Oh my – this is lovely. I finall managed to buy a copy of the tank pattern earlier this month and I am hoping on sewing a few today. May I ask if you had to modify the sleeve cap from Tova at all to fit the tank? Your mod has really inpsired me this morning – thank you!

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    1. tidytipsy

      Thanks Tammy 🙂 I didn’t have to modify the sleeve cap! But you need to find out it you’ll need to extend the shoulder part of the tank a little, to make the sleeves sit nicely.

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      1. Tammy

        Oh thank you – I hadn’t even thought about extending the shoulder! I have very broad shoulders so that will most certainly need to be done to achieve a proper fit. Thank you again for the inspiration and the advise!

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  10. Dianne J.

    Hi there! So I stumbled upon your picture about a year ago and finally decided to buy the pattern recently. (You did such a great job btw!) I decided to use a solid colored thrifted bed sheet as well for my first tank, just as something to practice on, and I’m having the hardest time with the binding portion of the scoop neck. Any tips? I feel like there is no way to get the binding to curve perfectly since the bed sheet is a stiffer material…

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    1. Kristina

      Sorry I never answered your question, your comment sort of went under the radar :/ Your top is probably long finished… Did you cut the strips on the bias? Then there shouldn’t be a problem getting them to curve. Other than that I can only suggest cutting new bias strips from lighter material.

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  11. Ruthie

    where can I get a pattern for this? I am a bit new to sewing and I don’t trust myself to try to work this up from just the pictures!

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  15. Bethany

    I know you did this a long time ago, but I just came across this and want to try it myself! I was curious, how did you finish the sleeve hem and underarm area? Did you finish the whole thing with a bias strip together? I am so new to sewing…

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    1. Kristina Post author

      Hi Bethany, that’s right, I finished everything with one continous bias strip for the sleeve and the area where it meets the armhole. Have fun sewing your shirt, let me know how it worked out!

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