Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Summer tunic

Finally we have warm weather!  In March I started dreaming summer outfits.  (That's about the time I am thoroughly disgusted with layers of warm woolies.)  In April I was still confident that I would finish all of my "winter projects".  Not so.  Left some UFO's for the Fall.  With house guests coming in May, there were certain home dec projects that needed to happen.  Some even included fabric.  There was some emergency wedding sewing.  Not much time for me sewing.  But that suited me just fine, because I was in the deepest of dumps in regards to wardrobe.  The weather was cold and rainy, and it seemed that there would be no end to wearing winter woolies.  With this lack of cooperation from the weather, I was not particularly motivated to sew anything new for summer.
Regardless ... samples for summer classes are due by the end of the month.  Summer classes need to be easy, and I thought a tunic would be just the ticket for teaching some fitting.

I've had this pattern for quite some time.  I made it once - years ago.  For some reason I remembered it being too tight in the armholes.  "Muslin" time.  OK - making a muslin from a patterned fabric that needs some degree of matching is not the most brilliant idea.  Really?  Judging by what was in the pattern envelope, I had previously cut an XS.  So I cut a S.  Because I'm just so smart, I decided to forego basting the seams and actually stitched at the regular stitch length and serged all the seams before trying on.  I must like to give myself a lot of extra work.  My memory was obviously wrong.  The tunic was huge.  I scaled back down to the XS, made an adjustment in the shoulders, ripped and restitched.  Now everything fits. So this is tunic No. 1.

There is tunic No. 2 - made "just because" - yet to be photographed.  The actual sample that will be hanging in the store is still in progress.

And just because I didn't want to bundle up the leftover fabric for future use, I made a skirt to match.  Now as I look at this two-piece "dress" combination, I rather doubt that I'll actually wear these two together.  A bit "much" in my opinion.  But the skirt and a solid top should be all right.  The tunic can go over black jeans or white jeans... which would mean that I would need to sew said pair of white jeans, and who knows if that will ever happen.
I  am the most unphotogenic person in the world, but just to prove that what I sew actually does fit me - here's a few snaps of "what I wore to-day".


10 comments:

  1. I love the tunic. Maybe you made extra work, but I admire your ability to take it apart and fit it right.

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  2. This is a great class sample! Thanks for showing you wearing the tunic. I hate taking pics of myself, but I know others like seeing patterns made up and people wearing them. It's a community service project! lol

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    1. Thank-you, Brenda! I also like seeing people wearing their makes - you get a "better picture" of the garment. May-be one day I'll get over my hang-ups!

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  3. Very pretty, Irene. A very smart look with the solid bottoms.

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  4. This is gorgeous. I keep saying that I'm going to make a tunic. Need to get round to it though.

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    1. Thank-you, Faye! You'll get to the tunic when you feel you absolutely can't live without it. You make so many other lovely tops.

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  5. I like the tunic and agree that the two pieces should not be worn together...but that fabric is amazing! Love it!

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  6. Thank-you! Sometimes there can be a bit too much of a good thing.

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