I'd been planning to draft a woven tank for a while (I had some fabric scraps to deal with, and a need for layering pieces) but the final kick in the butt to get started was when I made the sheer shirt from this post - and realized that I needed to make something to wear under it if I wanted it to be work appropriate.
The eagle eyed among you may notice a resemblance to the True Bias Ogden Cami - definitely a good candidate if you don't want to deal with drafting your own. Mine has bust darts, a slightly different back shape, a deeper front neckline, and the location of the strap connection has been specifically drafted* to land, centered, one inch above the top cup connection point of my standard self drafted bra. Unlike the ladies gracing the Pinterest fashion feeds, I don't think I'll be wearing this tank much without a bra, so that's important.
*okay so I messed up the location of the strap connection on the first version and then overcompensated the correction in the second but we got there eventually
The fabric for the first version is a nude silk. It's my favorite-ever lining fabric, which I stocked up on when The Fabric Store was having their sale. (I've used it for a few things already, including this tank, and I still have 2 meters left!) It's a good neutral for layering, and it also qualifies under my continuing attempts to wear more bright/light colors. It's incredibly soft, but stable enough that I didn't have any shifting issues, and it pressed nicely as well. I constructed the sides with french seams, and I hand rolled the hem the old-school way (It's such a nice edge finish and I don't think it took me too long... somewhere between half an hour and 45 minutes?) As a bonus, hand rolling the hem means you don't need to have extra fabric for bias binding. (It's wrinkly in the pictures because I'm lazy. Sorry.)
Hems: Straight folded hem, hand stitched handkerchief hem, and self bias tape bound hem.
For the second version, I decided to lower the armholes by 1/2" (they're not uncomfortable - just a personal preference thing) and fix the aforementioned too-low strap connection point, moving it towards the center and up at the front. I also lengthened it by an inch, which was another personal preference thing. This did not entirely work, as at first I forgot to shorten the straps and my back adjustment overshot the mark slightly, but it's wearable with certain bras now that I've shortened the straps, but it doesn't sit flat against my back.
The second is a loosely woven viscose from Draper's, in a sort of 'training wheels' bright print. I'm going to get out of this dark neutrals rut if it kills me!
The third and final (for now! Holy crap I've been wearing these constantly since I finished them, they're perfect for summer layering) is a lightweight silk from The Fabric Store with a little geometric print that makes me feel very witchy indeed. On this one, I went back to the original back strap placement, and shaved just a tiny bit back off the side seams. Third time's the charm, this one is just right! My only complaint is that the design on the silk is printed ever so slightly off grain, and since I decided to make this one's hem straight instead of curved, some of the little dreamcatchers look wonky because I cut on-grain rather than on-pattern. I think it's only obvious if you point it out, so I'm alright with it.
Okay, 'only complaint' is perhaps a misnomer - I just remembered the other. I was so focused in my pattern placement to not end up with dreamcatchers centered over my nipples, that I ended up centering the nebulous purple design right on top of them instead.
They look a bit like mouths, to the point where I mentioned it in my Instagram stories and a friend suggested I paste on little fangs for Halloween. It was a bit of a facepalm moment if I'm being honest, but nobody's commented on it yet and these shirts have already worked themselves into heavy wardrobe rotation so I'm just going to own it. If it you think my boobs are trying to eat you, you're staring too hard.
Meantime: I wasn't even cold when I stood outside to take these pictures - summer is upon us! I, interestingly, have just bought fabric for the wooly, wintery coat of my dreams because seasonal sewing is for people more reasonable than I. See you next week!