sew your roll: ruffle Kirei camisole

I’ve really been enjoying listening to the “Sew and Tell” podcast. They posed a challenge recently called “Sew Your Roll”, in which you roll 3 12-sided dice to determine color, shade, and detail parameters for a sewing project. I thought I’d play along!

I rolled three dice with the following results:
Blue die = color = 7 = aqua
White die= shade = 11 = neutral
Green die= detail = 2 = ruffles

I was really excited to get aqua (one of my very favorite colors) AND ruffles, because lately, I just love all the girly details, and ruffles are right there at the top of my list!  I promise that I didn’t doctor this roll!

As I looked through my stash (no fabric shopping going on currently), I discovered a smallish (29″ x 42″ wide) piece of dusty aqua rib knit that had been handed down to me a few years ago.  I think the color definitely qualifies as “neutral aqua” 🙂

Next, I needed to come up with a garment idea that would have ruffles…and fit on a >1 yd piece of fabric! I immediately thought of the Blank Slate Patterns Kirei camisole (<–affiliate link).

But how to add the ruffles…  I did a quick Pinterest search of “ruffle tank top” and this came up:

https://www.cofashionova.com/collections/tank-top-camis/products/vest-off-shoulder-halter-fashion-ruffles-tank-top

…and that helped me envision ruffles along the front neckline. Even though I used this for inspiration, the final top looks different. As I considered how I would add the ruffles with the binding, I decided to have them point downward rather than upward like the inspiration top.

And then, as I was getting everything together, I realized that the only thread I had on hand that was even close to matching is a slightly darker teal/aqua… and one thing led to another, and then I was using a scrap of darker aqua knit that matched that thread (from this dress) to add a second layer to the ruffle that would make the darker thread look intentional!

Another little hack I did was to improvise some knit interfacing.  The pattern calls for knit or stretch interfacing for the straps, and I don’t have any on hand.  Since we’re under a stay-at-home order here, it would have been irresponsible for me to go out on a hunt for some in the stores, so I got on the Blank Slate Patterns facebook page to reach out for suggestions.  Melissa suggested cutting a thin knit fabric on the crossgrain to sandwich into the straps instead, and it worked great.

In the above photos, you can see how I laid a crossgrain strip of knit along the middle fold of the strap piece.  I basted in place with very long basting stitches so that I could remove them easily when the straps were installed.  

I left the bottom hem of my top unfinished, since the rib knit will not unravel, and I have raw edges on the ruffles, as well.

I think this ruffle cami is going to be such a cute layering piece… and I never would have thought to use this hand-me-down piece of rib knit without the Sew Your Roll challenge!