Hello, all! I'm Jan, and I'm one of the testers for the new Marina Tank from Amelia Lane Designs! This tank is AWESOME and has so many possibilities.
The first thing I thought (after my initial, "well, I'll just be living in these forever") was that the Marina would make a GREAT workout tank! The front pocket is perfect to hold your phone and ID, and the top is just fitted enough to be flattering, without having that "too snug" fit of a lot of athletic tops. Also, I love a tank top with a hood. They look so sporty and fun, plus, the hood comes in handy if you're out for a jog or a hike and run into rain or start to get a burn.
First, I had to decide what to use! Amelia Lane has so many awesome athletic fabrics, it was kind of hard to make a choice. I finally went with the Navy Athletic Rib Knit. It's so soft and easy to wear. It's got awesome drape for a top like this!
I went thru the options on the Marina and decided to go with a tank length and add that pocket for convenience.
The next step was to decide on a hood! There are so many patterns with great hoods. One of my favorite hoods is actually a freebie from Made By Runi. She offers a free crossover hood and cowl set that are so unique. I decided for this particular hoodie though, I wanted less up front around my face, so I went looking a little deeper in my pattern files.
The Good Sport Tank from Ellie and Mac Patterns was exactly the hood I was looking for in this kind of top! It's easy to make a single, light layer hood, and it has a small front overlap.
To add a hood to my Marina, first, I followed the tutorial steps to add my pocket to the front. This pocket is SO EASY! I used wash away wonder tape to make sure it was exactly where I wanted, and the results were perfect.
The next thing I did was continue with the tutorial to complete my shoulder seams and side seams.
From there, I constructed my hood. As I said previously, I wanted a single layer hood and used the Good Sport Tank hood for this top. However, I'll explain how to use ANY hood you love. Everyone's favorite hood is different!
To assemble my hood, I sewed back seam first. Then I pressed the front hem back 1/2" and stitched it.
The next step, I found the center FRONT and BACK of my tank. The shoulder seams will be your other "quarter" points if needed when adding your hood.
As I said earlier ANY hood can be used for this tank, but it may take a little finesse. I put pins in the "quarter" points of my hood, using the back seam as the center point. This makes adding the hood much easier.
Match your BACK points first. Pin your hood and tank right sides together at the center back point. Look where your hood's "quarter" points lie. If you're going to need to stretch more than an inch to line them up, you may have more open space at the front rather than an overlap where your hood meets up.
Gently stretch your hood along the neckline (again, try not to stretch more than an inch of hood per section or your neck opening may be uncomfortable). Once you get to your center front, if you have EXTRA hood, overlap the front pieces in a way that centers the overlap. On my hood, I had about an inch of overlap in the front once I walked my hood all the way around the neck opening.
If your hood has MORE overlap, try to center the overlap at the front point you pinned earlier. It will give a cleaner look to have an even overlap. When that overlap looked exactly as I wanted it to, I used a basting stitch on my sewing machine to secure it so that the area didn't shift as I attached the rest of the hood. Then I stitched the hood right on!
If your overlap doesn't meet in the middle, you've got a little more work to do. Without that overlap, you'll notice there is some raw neckline exposed. What I prefer to do is pull that raw neckline down about 1/4 inch and press it with a steam iron to help it stay put. Then, I center the open area around my front center pin to create an equal opening at the front neckline. Now, go ahead and stitch your hood on, leaving the raw area open. Finally, tuck your pressed part of the opening down and pin or clip, then topstitch around the entire neck opening. It will hem down the open area at the neck and keep your hood/neck seam from pulling it up awkwardly.
All that's left from here is to add your arm bands and hem! (Gratuitous pic of my arm bands because I LOVE THE FINISH ON THESE!! It's so clean!)
Congratulations!! You just hacked a hood! Be sure to check out all the other amazing hacks coming this weekend. The testers went above and beyond with so many great ideas to make the Marina an awesome wardrobe staple. From maternity hacks to awesome colorblocking, they knocked it out of the park!
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