Easy Guide to Sewing Tops and T-Shirts

Easy Guide to Sewing Tops and T-Shirts

by: Marcy Tilton

Topics include: bound slit, tissue fitting, challenging fabrics, bias garments, topstitch from the right side, neck binding, dropped sleeves, curve stick, felled seam, high bust, bust dart, princess seams, scrap tissue, transfer markings, silk broadcloth, clear elastic, neck edge, sleeve cap, bias binding, bust measurement, fullest part, stitching line, pattern envelope, lengthwise grain, wool jersey

Book Description:

Tops and t-shirts are wardrobe basics that are used every day, for casual and formal occasions, from morning until the night. Easy Guide to Sewing Tops and T-Shirts describes the essential techniques needed to make sewing a top an efficient and enjoyable experience. Marcy Tilton offers professional advice on choosing fabric, finding a pattern and choosing an appropriate size, simple fitting techniques, and complete construction methods for both wovens and knits. She also includes numerous designer ideas that can be incorporated into any pattern that will transform it from basic to gorgeous. Discover expert tips and techniques for how to:

change a round neckline to a flattering V
add elegant refinements to your pattern that off-the-rack tops don't include
make a drapey bias-cut shell
add designer details to your pattern
make a perfect, flat hem on a knit top
use stenciling, dying, and stamping to jazz up your fabric

From fabric selection to complete construction methods -- A very valuable sewing reference book -- This is a very helpful handbook for home sewers who want to learn appropriate techniques for creating quality women's tops. There are many good illustrations, and the text is clearly written. As a skilled seamstress who has sewed for many years, I can tell you that the methods in this book are really good, and as the title indicates they are also quite easy. If you are learning to sew and have trouble understanding the guide sheets that come with commercial patterns, this books will teach you sound sewing techniques that will get you off to a good start. Although much of the content of this book may already be familiar to advanced sewers, you may still learn something new or find things that you knew but had forgotten. I browse through this book frequently when planning a new sewing project. It is nice to have so much pertinent information in one handy little paperback. If you are looking for a sewing book that deals with very fitted or tailored garments, this is not the book you want. It does not cover making collars, or the methods used in making menswear type shirts. The author's introduction specifies that she is only dealing with t-shirts made from knit fabrics, or with unstructured pullover tops in woven fabrics. The emphasis of the book is on fashion sewing. The examples in the book are dressy tops, rather than casual t-shirts or unisex activewear. The author shows how to take very basic designs and add value and quality by using designer methods. She also gives good advice about appropriate fabric choices. Although much of the content of this book may already be familiar to advanced sewers, you may still learn something new or find things that you knew but had forgotten. I browse through this book frequently when planning a new sewing project. It is nice to have so much pertinent information in one handy little paperback.

Excellent -- very thorough and easy to understand -- You wouldn't think there would be enough to say about t-shirts to fill a whole book, would you? Well, there is! This is another terrific book from the people at Threads. If you want to make really beautiful, professional, classy tops and t-shirts this is the book for you. Marcy Tilton has taken her many years of sewing and teaching experience and distilled it into a guide that helps with fitting, tweaking the pattern, choosing fabrics, new ways with facings and neck bindings, etc. There's a good beginner section on painting and stencilling your tops too. I bought this book after hearing Marcy lecture at a sewing convention on the topic "The $200 T-Shirt" and have found it to be very useful in my sewing. There are some small tables on measurements and interfacings that are great for photocopying and putting on your bulletin board in your sewing room. I would highly recommend this book if you're looking for a way to spruce up that Casual Friday wardrobe.

Reviews:

From fabric selection to complete construction methods

Tops can be the glue that holds a wardrobe of separates together: what you wear under a jacket, a cardigan sweater, or shirt. A top might match your skirt, turning it into a two-piece dress, or a cardigan, transforming it into a twin set. A top can be a bias silk charmeuse tank, a jersey T-shirt, or a linen shell. A top can be in the background, unadorned and minimal, or be a focus piece encrusted with embellishment. What separates a top from a blouse lies in the details. Blouses have more construction: cuffs, complex collars, sleve plackets, front bands. Tops tend toward simplicity with bound or faced edges and easy-to-sew sleeves.

I love to make tops because they can be quick and easy or act like a blank canvas for surface design or detail. Patterns don't change much, so once you have a favorite pattern or two, it is easy to lengthen or shorten it, revamp the neckline, cut it on the bias, or add buttons, piping, and stenciling or stamping. Simple designs look best when they fit so they flow on the body, and are so comfortable that you can forget you are wearing them. A top like a cap-sleeved shell or tank-type camisole is indispensable all year. Even if you are a woman who says, "I never reveal my bare upper arms," you'll come to think of tops as an integral part of the outer layer.

Each spring and fall, I make a grouping of tank tops and long- or short-sleeved tunics with matching/blending pants or skirts, and wear all the pieces separately and together. There is something slimming, flattering, and very comfortable about wearing one color from head to toe. Another approach is to keep your bottoms in basic neutrals like black, brown, and natural so you can switch your tops. After a few seasons, you'll have colors, shapes, and textures to layer together. I use silk, rayon, or linen year-round, adapting the color to the season, so I can layer a fall silk camisole under a holiday velvet tunic. I go into the stores and examine and try on the finest-quality tops, making notes of construction details and proportion. The tops that designers like Giorgio Armani and Donna Karan show with their jackets appear simple at first glance, but have careful attention to cut, proportion, fabrication, and detail. When I shop for fabrics, I search out wovens and knits in flattering colors and neutrals, and look for special edgings, pipings, ribbons, and stripes to use at the neck. When buying fabric for a jacket, pants, or shirt, I get enough extra to make a top. You'll find this small investment pays off in many ways.

I was living in San Francisco, sewing three or four suits a year in my tailoring classes, when I began assembling my own wardrobe of tops. I tried shirts and blouses, but found that a clean neckline and simple shape looked better than tucked-in garments with collars or bow ties. I live in the country now and don't wear as many suits as I once did, but tops remain an essential element in my wardrobe. They can be layered, and move with ease from city chic to understated casual.

This book will show you the fitting tips, patternwork, and sewing techniques I use in my own wardrobe and in the classes I teach. In my mother's day, when a woman wanted some inspiration in her life, she would get a new hat. I love nothing better than to go into my studio and create a new top!

Introduction

1 Which Top to Make?

Choosing the Best Style
Marriage of Pattern and Fabric

2 Selecting the Pattern

Hard vs. Easy Tops
About the Pattern Companies
Measurements for Sewing Tops
Selecting a Pattern for Knits

3 Working with Fabrics

Easy vs. Challenging Fabrics
Choosing Knits
Interfacing Guidelines
Preparing the Fabric
Laying Out and Cutting the Fabric
Marking Your Fabric

4 Fit

Proofing the Pattern
Pattern Drafting Basics
Tissue Fitting
Pattern Refinements
Pattern Work Checklist

5 Construction

Sewing Construction Basics
Preparing to Sew
Constructing the Top

6 Bias and Surface Design

Bias Shell
Further Techniques

Resources

Index