Sew Thomas the Tank Top

Made the pattern? Check.  Cut it out?  Check.  Time to sew your tank top!

Use seam allowances that you added to your clone pattern (most home sewers use 1.5 cm, I like 1 cm.)  Use the stretch stitch on your sewing machine.  (Can't find a stretch stitch?  Use a small zig-zag instead. Got an overlocker?  Lucky you, use it for all the steps except top-stitching.)

1. Join front and back

With right sides together, pin front to back.  Stitch (at red line).  Press seam open.

2 Measure and cut neck band.

Measure distance around neckline (front and back).  Cut your neckband to 3/4 of the measurement.  For those very bad at maths, just cut the neckband a couple of cm shorter than the neckline.)

3 Join neckband into a circle

Fold neckband in half, right sides together.  (This makes the neckband into a loop.  Stitch ends.  Trim corners.

4. Fold neckband in half and mark into quarters

Fold neckband in half lengthways (wrong sides together, seam now cannot be seen).  Mark in quarters with  water-erasable pen or with pins.  Also mark the neckline into 4 quarters, starting at a shoulder seam.  (NB: third quarter mark  probably will not be at the other shoulder seam!)

5. Pin neckband to neckline, matching marks.

Lay tank top flat with right side up.  Lay neckband on top, matching seamline on neckband to first quarter mark on the seamline of the neckline.  Pin each quarter, matching marks and raw edges.

6. Attach neck band

Start stitching at seamline (follow red dashed line.)  The neckband is shorter than the neckline, so stretch it flat as you sew.

7. Topstitch neck

Iron  neck so that raw edges sit flat inside the tank top.  Top stitch (I've used zig-zag but use a straight stitch if you prefer) on the tank top close to the neckband as shown.

8. Now for the armbands!

Repeat steps 2 to 7 for armbands (ie.  measure armhole, cut armband to 3/4 of that length, join ends, fold in half, mark quarters, pin, stitch and topstitch.)

9. Going great guns!

Hopefully, your tank's looking like this now.  ( I topstitched the armholes with a straight stitch instead of zig-zag to show you what that looks like.)

10. Stitch bottom hem

At bottom of tank, turn up desired hem length (mine is 2 cm) to wrong side. Stitch.  Stitch again parallel to first stitching line if you like the look of double stitching. (Factories use a special cover-stitch machine, you can buy a twin needle to use on a domestic machine if you like, but it's not necessary.)

All done!

Feeling smug...feeling very smug and self-satisfied in my sweat-shop free, all organic tee...