08 March 2011

two-tone tunic

I keep thinking one of these days I am going to start dressing my age, but then I get an undeniable yen to sew an uber-cute tunic in a retro floral. The retro florals, they always get me.

This is Simplicity 2922, which is one of the Project Runway patterns. I still can't decide about these Project Runway patterns. I think I like them. Some of them. You just have to get past the dreadful fabric choices and excessive embellishments in the drawings on the envelope. There are some good basic silhouettes in there, and the many variations they provide with each pattern really do give you a lot of choices. On this pattern, there were several options for the sleeves, and I really like the notched cap sleeve that I used.

This one sewed up pretty easily, and the only part I found tricky was the neckband. I can never sew neckbands like this without having the fabric pucker on me in a couple places. But it generally lies flat and the imperfections are not noticeable. The pattern called for a zipper up the back, which I decided was unnecessary in the shirt version (you can also make this as a dress). I just left the top bit of the back seam open and added a button and thread loop at the top.

The pockets are pretty cool though rather strangely engineered into the side seam. I had sewn the side seams as flat-fell seams, but I ended up having to open up the seams again with vents at the bottom to allow room for my caboose. (Twin is modeling in the picture and her caboose region is a bit slimmer than mine.) This was all complicated by the proximity of the pockets. Anyhoo, it was a hairy few minutes but it all turned out ok in the end. Phew.

Twin digs it.

4 comments:

k said...

i'm jealous you have a twin to model for you... must be convenient :)

Katie said...

Really cute top, I like that your model was so into it!

Carolyn said...

that turned out super cute!! I'm pretty sure I own that pattern as well :)

Springalto2 said...

You will never believe this; I was searching for this pattern to make a top for my sister, Julie Rhee! You did a lovely job. How do you think that neckline and yoke would do in a slightly heavier fabric with pockets to match? Thanks for your time.