A Navy and Cream Tunic

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the bodice left over after refashioning the lower half of the dress into a skirt.  Even though I have made several tunics lately, this left over piece was just destined to become yet another one...they are very comfortable after all!

  I began by putting the bodice on my dress form to determine my cut.

I cut it higher in the front and lower in the back.

The plan was to add some lightweight cream colored fabric to create the lower portion of the tunic.  WARNING...these next two steps are what NOT to do!

I first cut two of the following shapes, thinking I would sew them to the lower edge of the bodice and have a natural high/low hem effect.  Oops, it looked ridiculous!  I picked it out and started over.

Fail #2 began by cutting the upper edge of the front piece to follow the same curve as the bodice.  I even used the part of the bodice that was cut away as a guide.  After cutting a piece for the back, I stitched the side seams together and then stitched the whole thing to the bodice.  Another ridiculous look and just too tight across the chest.

I then scoured the thrift shops looking for a cream colored blouse or shirt that I could marry to the bodice.  No luck.  But, I did happen to find a piece of lightweight knit for $1.99.  It was thin, somewhat lacey, and had the potential of hanging very nicely.

After two fails, I gave up on process pictures...sorry!  I ended up cutting the upper edge of the lightweight knit fabric to match the curve of the bodice like I did in Fail #2, but this time I cut the whole thing a lot wider so that I could gather the upper edge.

After gathering along the top edge and stitching it to the bodice, I was much happier with the results.  The fabric hung nicely, and there was adequate room for comfort.  Now it was just a matter of the finishing touches.  I shortened the sleeves by turning them under two inches, stitching, then folding them up to create a one inch cuff.  I tacked the cuffs in place.

Using my serger, I kept the hem simple with a rolled hem.

I stretched it a little as I went to give the hem a little more frill.

Since the cream fabric was so thin, I didn't want to see the bodice seam showing through, so I pressed the seam upward and top stitched it into place.

The cream colored fabric is very thin and I considered lining it, but in the end, I didn't want the added bulk and settled for a tank top underneath.

Success took a little more time than expected, but like the saying goes,

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"

I like to link to these great parties!