Sorbetto Fabric Fail

I haven't been sewing much the last week or so because of my surgery.  I'm on the mend and doing ok but am taking it a bit slow.  I started this Sorbetto tank beforehand but ran into so many troubles that it didn't get finished.

I've gone back to the top a few times only to be more frustrated and today I finally threw my hands in the air and declared that I was done.

Now I want to note, nothing is wrong with the pattern itself.  It is cute and to the point; many people have produced gorgeous tanks from it.  The instructions are great.  What is wrong is my fabric choice.

I picked up this silky unknown fabric at Hancocks awhile ago (Sept 15th, 2012) without knowing it's purpose. It was only $1.98 a yard and only 1 1/2 yards were left on the bolt.  I really fell in love with the colors and the print so I just had to have it.  I knew it would be a challenge to sew because it is so darn slippery.

I pre-washed.  I muslined my pattern and made adjustments.  I immediately lowered and fixed the bust darts as well as lowering the bottom of the armscye about an inch.  My measurements put me in the size 6 but looking at the ease I traced and cut a size 4.  It fit great on the muslin.

I traced out my pattern onto freezer paper making it a complete front and back without cutting on a fold. I then ironed the freezer paper to the tank so the fabric wouldn't slide around when I cut it out.  I also tried to sew it together with the freezer paper still attached to utilize the stiffness.  This was a mess.  It took so much longer to sew this way then peel the freezer paper off.  Ugh.  I also sewed french seams.  I had to use wonder tape to sew the bust darts and that was a mess.  I had to wash the tank again before I could press those darts.  The fabric frayed so much in the wash.

Another problem was the iron... Setting 3 for polyester was to low and setting 4 for cotton blends burned the fabric.  The center pleat never wanted to lay flat.

When I finally got to making the bias tape I measured the neck opening, made and cut the bias tape and went to apply..... it was too short.  I threw up my hands here.  I'm done for a long time on this one.  I don't know if I can bring myself to finish it but I can't bring myself to throw it away either......

I'm going to move on to another project and maybe revisit the sorbetto with a voile or lawn....

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~