Open back exercise top hack!

I am trying to motivate myself to exercise more by making myself some cute active wear! Another bonus is I get to use my newish coverstitch machine on the finishing.

I'm also finding out there are not a lot of cute active wear patterns! First I made Simplicity 8338, which was in my stash and then I was looking around also at some of the indie designers and just couldn't find what I was really looking for. I almost *gasp* bought some new workout tops but as I was looking at the ones I liked, I though, "hell I can hack that from a tank top pattern." And so I set out to do just that!

Here was my inspiration pic.

I didn't like the curved lower edge but I quite liked the shape of the opening. In thinking this through, I decided I could use a tank pattern with a back seam and as way to make the finishing around the back cut out easier, I decided I did not want to do binding (I avoid binding like the plague) and I thought I could do a band or coverstitch around the opening. I decided I'd prefer the CS look but because it's harder to CS around a steep curve, I wanted a gentler slope.

I also thought about leaving the bottom open and tying it up (how cute is that?!?) but I do a lot of mat exercise and I didn't relish the thought having a knot behind my back that I was laying on. For this reason I went with the overlapped back, sewn into the side seam.

Based on the look I wanted, I found the Ellie and Mac Curved Hem Pocket Tank (bonus! it's a free pattern) would be a good option for hacking!

Making your pattern changes
I chose this pattern because it has a back seam so it would be easy to attach at the top. I decide to follow the general look of the first one but I didn't want to have too much fabric overlapping, making the top too warm, so I made a big hole and only have a little of the bottom overlapping.

I traced the back of my pattern and then used my French curve to make the hole shape. I drew it a few times until I was happy with the size and slope of the opening. In hindsight, I'd make the opening smaller, I may wear a tank under this one.

To do this you'll need:

• Tank pattern with a center back seam, I used the Ellie and Mac Curved Hem Pocket Tank (free!)
• Tracing paper, I like bee paper and have been using the same roll for almost 3 years.
• Curved ruler
• Colorful pens, this is optional but I find I draw a lot of lines until I'm happy so I like to have several colors. I like these.
• Fabric, ~2 yards, more for a directional print

I used an nylon spandex remnant piece from LA Finch Fabrics, I am not sure exactly how long it was but it was a yard and change. Two yards should be enough until at least XL, if you need a bigger size you may not be able to get all 3 cuts in 1 width and will need more fabric. You will also need more if your print is directional, I cut 1 back piece upside down to be the most economical.

First I evened out the curved hem (original back piece shown), as I wanted a straight hem. I also extended it to make it a little longer because taking out the curve made is shorter. I extended it 1 1 1/2 inches (includes 1/2 hem allowance).

I traced the original back on my paper, then drew my new hem line. Since I didn't want to tie the back, I made a long opening which went all the way to the other side. I drew several curves until I was happy (my finger is pointing to the one I used), the original back is under my paper as a mirror so I could see where my piece should end on the opposite side.

The original back was cut on the fold, the new back needs to be cut in 2 pieces, mirrored.

Same view as above, with the full piece shown.

I made a little notch so I 'd know where to join the pieces at the top. Be careful cutting notches in E&M patterns because the seam allowance is only a 1/4 inch.

I cut the front piece mostly normal, with the rounded hem leveled off, adding 1 1/2 inches to make it a little longer. You could trace this out and make the change, but I didn't.

This is what my back piece looked like. I had to cut 2 (mirrored). I put the extension part below where I had cut the top to make the most of my fabric. Since I wasn't using a directional print, I then flipped it over and upside down to cut the other side, leaving me with a good sized square of usable fabric.

I coverstiched around the opening, on both sides (where it's clipped) and then serged the top back together. Then I serged the shoulder seams together.

This photo shows me doing the side seams next, which is what I did, but I ended up taking it out and hemming it first. So the next step would be to hem the front and both back pieces, separately and then serge the side seams together.

The Ellie and Mac Curved Hem Pocket Tank, has the neckline finished with binding. I hate doing binding so I did a faux binding by serging on a band backwards and then coverstiching it. It was really hard to CS so many layers of this thick fabric, so I decided to do the armholes with thin bands (1 1/2 wide and 87% length of armhole).

Here is the final result! It's a lot more open than either of my inspo pics, in retrospect I would make my opening smaller with more area of overlap at the bottom.

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