Skip to main content

Tunic Top #1


I've started making tunic tops for several reasons
A.  They are easy- no buttons, no zippers, just pull over the head.
B.  They are almost like dresses, but since I hardly ever have an occasion to wear a dress, I can use a beautiful fabric as a tunic and actually wear it!
C.  They are easy to fit.  In fact, it's hard to go wrong, as they are usually designed to be loose fitting, so as long as you get the size right in the shoulders, the rest is pretty much in the bag.
D.  You can wear them with a turtleneck underneath for cold days, or a cami underneath for warm days, so you get your money's worth!

This top is Simplicity 2690 view D.  This is a very nice basic tunic/dress pattern with a empire waist seam that uses elastic.  I used a silk velvet burnout fabric designed by Anna Sui.  It starts out as a light green at one selvedge and graduates to a black at the other selvedge.  Really a stunning fabric, and I wanted to make sure that I had a pattern that would show the full gradation of color. 


The pattern went together so easily, until I got to the belt.  It would have been easier with a fabric that wasn't quite as thick.  You basically need to sew button loops on each end that will attach to 3 buttons at the center front of the garment.  My fabric was way too thick for button loops, so I used black ponytail holders cut to the length that the pattern specified.  The belt is cut on the bias and then gathered to give the pretty pleating effect.  The problem with bias cuts is that no two fabrics ever behave the same on the bias, and this one stretched way to much.  I ended up taking off 4 inches, and it is still too big, but since I know that I'll want to wear a turtleneck underneath it on chilly days, I decided to leave it a little loose.

Here is one more shot of Illinois farmland in my backyard.  This is the first of a series of tunic tops.  They are like potato chips, you can't stop at just one.

Comments

  1. Very pretty Ann - looks like gorgeous fabric from your photos!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting my blog! I would love to hear your opinions! Please share your comments here.

Popular posts from this blog

What to Wear in Madagascar

To be honest, I have no idea what to wear in Madagascar, and this title may need to be changed to "what NOT to wear in Madagascar" in a few months.  We will have to wait and see.  My 22 year old daughter, Alyssa, left for the Peace Corps this week, and she will be stationed in Madagascar for the next 2 years and 3 months.  Yes, you read that right- TWO YEARS and three months!!! We are very proud of her for wanting to help make the world a better place, and for being fearless in doing so, but it will be a looooong time for Mama and Papa back home. Not knowing anything about Madagascar, the first step in figuring out what to pack was to figure out the weather and the cultural norms.  Madagascar is a very large island off the southeastern coast of Africa.  It's very, very unique in it's ecosystem, and has many species that are not found anywhere else in the world- most famously lemurs. Right now, it is experiencing it's rainy season, as you can see by the

Vogue 9305 Asymmetrical Tunics

It's April and we're expecting snow tonight.  Have we switched hemispheres?  Nevertheless, I am sewing with visions of warm sunny days.  And for those warm sunny days to come, I imagine sitting in the shade with a light breeze flowing through the air, enjoying a light beverage with friends.  Just close your eyes and you can imagine too.  What would you be wearing?  Well,  I love a dramatic asymmetrical tunic made of the softest linen.  As luck would have it, I found just the fabric in the "As Is" section in Fabric Mart's sales category.  With just some irregular dye marks on the selvage, it was marked down, but still completely usable.  It started out as a solid color, but I did an ombre dip dye process to get this look- more on that later! For my pattern, I chose Vogue 9305 , a tunic with a shaped hemline, and two styles of pants (I didn't make the pants).   This pattern must be the biggest bang for your time possible.  The tunic went tog

Grey Cashmere Coat Simplicity 3672

For the past few months, Fabric Mart has had the most gorgeous array of Michael Kors Wool Blend Coatings that I have ever seen!  During COVID stay at home time, I've been letting my gray grow out, and I thought that even though some of the delicious sounding shades like apricot and apple green would be beautiful, the heathered gray shade would be the most flattering to my gray hair and the most versatile for a winter coat.  And it was one of the coatings that listed Cashmere as one of the fiber components, so I was curious as to how that would feel.