This light-weight vest, or cover-up was fashioned from a flared bottom tank top that was once attached to a blouse. The shoulder seams had to be cut in order to remove it, and I was afraid that creating new shoulder seams would leave the arm holes too small. So in order to work around that, I created a couple of tabs using a similar weight knit fabric from an old dress.
This is one of those things you just have to figure out as you go along...there's not tutorial, or even hard and fast rules for creating it. So, the best I can do here is tell you how I went about it. I did all the stitching by hand, but there's no reason you couldn't use your machine for this. I chose to do hand stitching because the tank was made from a very delicate knit, and because I didn't really know where I was going with this, I didn't want to have to rip out machine stitching.
Before cutting up the center of the tank, I fused a piece of medium-weight interfacing down the length of the tank to create a little stability, and prevent the knit fabric from rolling. I then folded and pressed (twice) before hand stitching.
The top tab is a rectangle that I folded under on each of the long sides, and then at one short end to create a point. I also made smaller rectangle tabs for the underside so that no raw edges are showing. I gathered the tank straps a little bit so they would fit the tabs. I began sewing the tabs by placing right sides together at the straight end of the tab, and the back strap of the tank, and stitched the tab to the tank. I then folded it over, sewed the tab to the front strap just above the v-point. Finally, I placed the smaller rectangular tabs underneath, attached the short ends to the tank, and used a slip stitch to sew the top and bottom tabs together at the sides. The white stitching was done last, and is just decorative.
Before cutting the tabs, and leaves, I fused a medium weight interfacing to the knit. The visible stitching was done with a heavy-weight thread so that it would stand out.
The grocery, and drug stores in the county can no longer provide plastic bags for customers. Now while that's a good thing, I do find it mildly irritating that they must charge ten cents for each paper bag provided to the customer. So even though I have (and use) several large canvas bags for grocery shopping, I was still finding myself without a bag when I stopped at the store unexpectedly. To make sure that I always had a bag when needed, I made a few more of my Market Totes to keep in my purse. Two of them fit nicely in a little zippered pouch,
but I also found that that I could use the left over U shaped scrap to make a small, open ended pouch for the bag.
This is a very simple bag to make, and it requires only 1/2 yard of fabric. You can find this pattern and more in my pattern store at Craftsy, and in my Etsy Store (Sew Mimi Designs).
Since posting the pictures of the guitar straps I made recently, I've received several requests for a tutorial. After giving it some thought...well, why not? So I've created detailed instructions, with photographs, and templates for cutting the vinyl tabs. The PDF tutorial is available for download at my Craftsy Pattern Store and my Etsy Store for just $4.99.
If you'd like to purchase pre-made tabs, and the plastic hardware that's needed for this project, I've got you covered...the DIY Kit is available in my Etsy Store.
I was looking around the internet last week...searching for something different to make. I came across a handmade guitar strap and said "why didn't I think of that?" My husband is a musician, and it occurred to me that the female musicians get a little short-changed when it comes to finding accessories -- so much masculine stuff, and not much girly stuff.
So I set about figuring out how to make these. I use cotton fabric, and heavy interfacing (actually, I'm using up a giant roll of heavy cut-away embroidery stabilizer from my stash.) For the tabs, I'm using upholstery vinyl. The hard part was finding the 2" plastic slider, and rectangle loop. I would have thought that any fabric store, or purse making supply site would carry them, but it seems that 1" is the largest available at the retail level for the most part. I ended up sourcing a large quantity from a wholesaler.
Now I could have purchased a cheap guitar strap, and used the plastic fittings, and leather tabs, but that created a couple of other issues for me since I plan to sell these. For one, that would increase my production cost, and secondly, most of the straps have the makers name imprinted on the tab -- I don't want anybody's name but my own on my work! So here they are...some of my hand-made guitar straps...up for sale in my Etsy Store (Sew Mimi Designs).
This light-weight vest, or cover-up was fashioned from a flared bottom tank top that was once attached to a blouse. The shoulder seams had to be cut in order to remove it, and I was afraid that creating new shoulder seams would leave the arm holes too small. So in order to work around that, I created a couple of tabs using a similar weight knit fabric from an old dress. 
