From Polo-to-Tank Top

My second knit, my first tank-top and my first refashioned item!

My polo-to-tank top

An old polo shirt.

I used BurdaStyle's Sadie pattern and cut up one of Chris' old polo shirts. The top is just a bit snug, but I like it. I can't wait to wear it over and over again!

I had a little trouble with the bias tape binding. The pattern calls for cutting up strip of fabric to use as the binding, which would have been less stiff than the bias tape, but I didn't have enough polo shirt to do that. I don't really mind the stiff binding as I think it gives the shirt and interesting look.

I also didn't like how blind hemming the tape looked. The thread was a lighter green (I didn't have a dark green spool on hand) and I thought it made the collar look tacky.

So, using a stitch called "Sephora" on my old Singer, I decided to do a decorative stitch instead. I like how it turned out. What do you think?

I originally had planned to add flowers or something along the left side of the collar, but the best I could come up with, using what I had, was this:

Too juvenile for a 30-year-old woman, me thinks.

I could have left the top plain; it's all right like that. But, to me, if you're making something, you're able to put your own personal touches on it and make it yours. So why not go all out? I felt the top still needed something, but what?

I flipped through Jenny Hart's "Sublime Stitching" book I picked up last Christmas while visiting my parents. I decided on a border along the bottom front of the shirt like this:

What do you think? I think I'm going to love it!

The embroidery floss matches the Sephora stitching pretty well and makes the top look more interesting. I can't wait to finish!

And it shouldn't take long. I finished the first vine in one evening. I'm using a simple backstitch for the stem and satin stitch (my first attempt at this stitch!) for the leaves.

(Thanks, Mom, for teaching me the basics of embroidery and thanks, Jenny, for this awesome book!)