I know, I know, I promised the pants… in the time between now and the last post though, I’ve gone ahead and made the new(ish) Sew Liberated Limestone tank top and leggings set, as well as a half-placket shirt (I’ll post about that seperately since that was a test).
The Limestone tank top is really more like a crop top than anything else. The leggings can also be cut down to 3/4 length, or to two lengths of shorts, and come with a gusseted crotch for improved movement, as well as trademark generous pockets.
And I mean generous – I use a CAT S52 smartphone, measuring 15.5cm by 7.5cm and it fits securely with room to spare. The pocket sits a little bit low on the leg, which might be a problem for some, but there’s no reason you can’t attach the pocket higher once you’re more familiar with the pattern.
But… my entire stash for this high-waisted trend to just. End. Already. A wide waistband does not automatic comfort make, not if it’s ultimately too tight – and adding the waist elastic as recommended in the instructions unfortunately rather does, especially as it’s so narrow. A wider 5cm waistband elastic would be better, but ultimately still too tight to be comfortable for me. I ended up compromising by cutting the waistband’s width down by half (bringing its highest point down to just above my hipbones) and then trimming its length back to fit snugly, and using it to case a wide elastic to help everything stay put. (A drawstring probably wouldn’t go amiss either since I actually use the pockets.)
I also had to trim roughly 2cm of width out of just the very top section, to remove some slightly odd bagging/pouching below the waistband. That could have been a cutting error though. But, after these modifications, I think I have my new go-to leggings! I made them in a 95% cotton, 5% elastane jersey, with approximately 40% stretch in both directions.
The Limestone crop top, on the other hand… readers and sewists of more than a B or C cup will know my pain. It’s just not going to fit. Even in a super high stretch fabric, it would never fit nicely. I had to omit the elastic due to discomfort, which means that the top gapes terribly at the hem. Reshaping it to fit snugly would make it impossible to get over my shoulders; I’ve compromised on my toile with a drawstring for now, but the only solution I can see is adding a side closure with snaps or something if I wanted a very snug fit.
But, I’m not into crop tops – I was more interested in making it to see if it might serve as a replacement for the Stasia tank for my go-to singlet/tank pattern. It’s somewhat simpler – there are no finishing bands on the armhole or neckline, just a standard hem. The downside though is that the Limestone has a much deeper armhole, so it doesn’t provide the shielding from sweat and BO that the Stasia does in that department (particularly if the armhole bands are cut a little bit wider. My Stasia tanks and T-shirts have served as under-binder and even under-bra tops, as well as a lighter under-layer to prevent skin contact with outer layers that I don’t want to have to wash too often, but I don’t think a Limestone tank would do the same. With that being said, I’m going to do a closer comparison of the two and see if I can’t adjust the Stasia’s neckline to be a hem rather than a band, purely to save on fabric mind you.
I was able to take the Limestone tank from traced pattern to finished in just over 3.5 hours. The leggings would have taken roughly 4-5 hours total, owing to being a more complex garment and taking a bit more pressing to finish nicely.
Overall, the leggings are a welcome change from my old leggings pattern – the Papercut Ooh La leggings might offer more options for shaping, but the complex seaming made it difficult to add pockets or other features and ultimately weakened the ones that I made to where all of them require repair now around several of the seam junctions. The Limestone crop top disappointed a little, but not in ways that were at all unexpected.
Dartigen.SPACE 