Tunic or not tunic

My dear old Pfaff has been having a bit of a rest for the past few months. I did revise my basic knit top pattern, with both set-in and raglan sleeves, for a somewhat looser fit, and I made prototypes of each. Beyond that all I have sewn is masks...ho-hum. So I thought I would review a couple of garments I made at the end of last year and the beginning of this.

One plus of getting older is, hopefully, knowing yourself. Knowing your strengths and abilities, and your weaknesses as well. Knowing how to make the most of the former and cope with the later. At the same time, it's also important to remain open to possibilities and to change. I don't want to be that frowning old lady pounding my figurative cane and decrying everything about life today.

That's true about fashion, too. I think I know what suits me, what flatters my small but not especially slender frame. I know how I want to look, the kind of styles that make me feel mentally at ease. But, once again, I don't want to get stuck in time, closed off to what's new. So, although I don't feel the need to keep up with trends, I do venture out of my fashion comfort zone from time to time. 

Now, tunics are not exactly cutting edge, I know. Young and old, everyone is wearing tunics. Not only are they comfortable, they also glide forgivingly over buldges. My main problem is with proportion. Since a tunic falls below the hips, it visually shortens the legs, an oh-oh for already short-limbed me. Still, I was taken with the creative tunic designs from Marcy and Katherine Tilton in Vogue and Butterick patterns.

Then I fell in love with a digital print knit from Mood Fabrics. It has the deep reds and purples that go with so much in my wardrobe. But it's also a very busy print, so I knew I needed to make it into a simple garment, something flowing that would show it off. Butterick 6136, a tunic by Katherine Tilton seemed to be the answer. The photo of View C on the pattern envelope even showed it made up in an equally busy print.

First, of course, I made a trial version in some of my seemingly inexhaustible stash of old cotton interlock which I over-dyed (from a tint that looked liked the old Flesh crayon) in a rich Procion color called Pomegranate. I used the size M cutting lines, but I think it would have fit better had I used S, because it is generously sized. The pattern description says it is fitted through the bust, which I take to mean more close-fitting than my tunics turned out. I think I would have been happier with them if I had simply made them less roomy.

I adjusted for proportion by shortening it about 2 inches on the “skirt” section. I shortened the sleeves considerably which I have to do on every pattern and narrowed by shoulders by 3/4”. I also narrowed the upper back by about 1/2”.

It's a very easy garment to sew, nothing whatsoever complicated about it. For the solid color tunic, I made View B with the stand-up collar and decorative top-stitching which I did with a small machine embroidery stitch and regular thread. Then I added beads along the stitching to give it a bit more emphasis. I also added a line of decorative stitching with beads down the back.

So I wore it and liked it well enough that I thought the pattern would indeed be just right for the Mood print. Even better, in fact, because the print fabric was softer and drapier than the cotton interlock and would look a bit sleeker. Or so I thought.

This time I used View C which is exactly the same except for the twist collar and no decorative stitching. Even easier to make the second time, of course. But when I tried it on, I felt overwhelmed by the print, by such a large expanse of print. Mr. C convinced me to wear it once, and it looks better in the photos he took of me than I thought it looked when assessing it in the mirror. But I don't see it turning into a go-to garment as I had expected all the times I had looked at the beautiful fabric before sewing it up.

So, is there a moral to this sewing story? Hmmm.... Maybe learn from your mistakes. Well, not really mistakes, but not stellar successes. Unlike trying on a garment in a store, you can never be totally certain of the sewing outcome, no matter how long you have been sewing, no matter what prep you do to make the garment as perfect for you as possible. I tried something a bit different for me, and maybe I'll come to like them more with time.