DIY Striped Panel Top

To go along with yesterday's post about stripes, I wanted to make a garment that used stripes in a playful way. I have lots and lots of knit striped fabric scraps in my stash. Not quite enough for a full garment but enough for part of a garment. Last year, I made a tank top with a print on the front and a solid on the back and I really love it, so I thought I'd try my hand at that again. I found a black and white stripe leftover from this top and some solid black knit leftover from this dress. On their own I didn't have enough for a full garment but together I had plenty. Don't you love it when things work out that way? It really is a great way to justify saving large scrap pieces!

For the pattern, I used the Eucalypt Tank by Megan Nielsen. A few months ago, she shared a knit maxi dress version and I've been thinking about trying it in a knit every since. I made a chambray dress version a while back and it's one of my favorites.

The only change I made for knit fabric was to cut 2 sizes smaller than normal. Then I used the striped fabric as a binding for the armholes and neckline which also created a contrasting look with the solid color back.

I love how the contrasting binding looks against the solid back. It is a little jailhouse (haha!) but it's such a fun easy way to create contrast and showcase a special print. For example, check out my other contrast panel tank here.

I really love this tank and I think I'll get a lot of use out of it. I fully anticipate using this pattern again and again. Here, I'm wearing it with a skirt based on the Lou Box Top pattern. It's a little bit of an experiment and I think I just need to make it a little bit smaller. But more on that to come! How do you feel about stripes? Have you tried to mix and match them with solid fabrics.