Beehive Wrap Top

Here’s another project that’s been waiting around for ages. It's finally finished!

I love bees, beehives, and bee lore, but I find it difficult to use the very literal bee-patterned fabrics unless it’s for home dec (as in bee pillows!)

So when I saw this ITY knit at Fabric Mart, called “beehive” but not at all obvious about it, I could not resist. I only got one yard, though, since I was unfamiliar with ITY and unsure about its sewability vs. my sewing ability. I agonized for a while about what type of a one-yard top I could make of it, as a plain and simple tee just didn’t seem special enough for such fabulous fabric.

Then I ran across Hot Patterns’ All Wrapped Up Tank, which is a free download at fabric.com (they have some other nice patterns there, too). I liked the look of the top, and someone else on the fabric.com blog had made it out of ITY, so I made the big decision and cut the fabric. Then I went into one of my production slowdowns and the whole thing went into a box in the towering stack of to-do sewing.

After the pink sewing pile was out of the way, this was unearthed next. It went together quickly, partly because I never even turned on the iron. (Much cooler work, too!) My machine is lacking in advanced stretch stitch options, so I just used a short and narrow zig zag.

Back when I cut this, I was aware that I rarely wear the tank tops I have, and I had cut the shoulders wide on the back, front, and wrap pieces. This worked quite well, giving me much more shoulder coverage. I think I might even try for a bit of a cap sleeve next time.

It actually looks nothing like a beehive, it's more of an abstract mosaic, but now it will always remind me of bees! This is already a favorite top.

What do you think about ITY – sewing or wearing it? (ITY = interlock twist yarn, a jersey fabric that is very smooth and stretchy; usually poly/spandex, although there are some rayon/spandex versions)

Katrina

P.S. If you use one of the Hot Patterns downloads, don’t forget to check your size! They use a different sizing system (I’m a 10/12 in Hot Patterns, a 14/16 in the Big 4). If the sizing charts are not readily available at fabric.com, go to Hot Patterns here.