Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Tunic Tee

In the search for the perfect tunic materials last week, I came across this linen blend skirt from a clothes swap a year or two ago. I never really knew what I was going to do with it until now. I only snagged it at the end of the night because no one else wanted it, and come on, quality fabric and hot pink?

Tunic Tee - Before

First, I cut off the waistband and picked out the darts. My plan was to place the pink pattern vertically on my tunic, using the front of the skirt as one side panel of the front of the tunic and the back of the skirt as the other side panel. So I used a well-fitting non-stretchy shirt to trace out the body, leaving a seam allowance along the skirt bottom hem that will be joined down the center front of my tunic.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress
Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

Then I flipped my pink panels up to the solid black portion of the skirt and cut two halves for the back of my tunic. From the remnant of the skirt, I cut two sleeves. Then I serged all the edges of all my pieces, with the exception of the neck hole edges.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

I stitched the front panels to each other and the backs to each other. I left the top 5 inches of the front seam open, but still pressed the seam allowances under all the way to the top. Then I joined the front and back at the shoulders, sloping downward slightly, and pressed those seams as well.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress
Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

Next, the sleeves were added and their seam allowances pressed.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

I draped the tunic-to-be over my shoulders and marked where my bust darts should be, then pinned, sewed, and pressed those.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

Finally, it was time to sew up the sides and sleeves. Again, I left the bottom 2 inches un-stitched, but still pressed the seam allowances under. I also pressed the bottom edges upward and sewed my new hem, including some horizontal stitch to reinforce the side slits. And I hemmed the sleeves as well.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress
Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

With my neck edge still raw, I knew I wanted to do a facing on the inside for a nice, clean finish. I cut two semi-circles from my remnants to mirror the front and back neck curves. I then stitched the facing pieces together, cut the front up the center, and serged the out edges. Next I pinned and serged my facing around the neck edge.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress
Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

I flipped the facing to the inside of my shirt and pinned them in place. I did a little top-stitched to keep them there, again making sure to reinforcing the front slit. And I stuck my salvaged laundering tag in there too.

Tunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In ProgressTunic Tee - In Progress

I absolutely love the end product, but I'm afraid it's not long enough to qualify as a tunic.

Tunic Tee - After

Tunic Tee - AfterTunic Tee - After

So back to the drawing board I went and devised my reversible coral and grey tunic instead, which I also absolutely love.

Tunic Tee - After

Tunic Tee - After

If you haven't a chance to visit The Renegade Seamstress and vote for your favorite tunic refashion, there's still time! Voting is open until Friday!

Tunic Tee - Before & After

18 comments:

  1. WOW Carissa, this is a high-impact refashion! It looks great and is so simple!

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    1. My favorite kind of refashion - quick and easy, but creative!

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  2. I love what you did with this awesome border print...very creative! Now I will have to revisit my border-prints-in-waiting and rethink what I'd originally had in mind for them. Great tutorial :)

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    1. Absolutely! If it's a woven fabric with the same amount of stretch vertically and horizontally, then the orientation doesn't matter that much.

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    2. Thanks for your detailed photos and description. I do have a similar skirt--great idea!

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  3. One of the best refashions I've seen, great job, wonderful creativity!!

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  4. I like it! Great job & it looks so cute on!

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  5. This shirt is AWESOME ! Easy care and comfy.

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    1. Definitely! Can't beat linen in the heat!

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  6. Oh man this looks fantastic!!!
    JJ

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  7. This is beautiful! I have a question about bust darts. When you add them, doesn't it make the front piece shorter, then when you try to sew the front to the back, the back would be too long? I'm a self taught sewer and I'm trying to wrap my head around how darts work in woven fabrics! Thanks!

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    1. Excellent question! It's true, bust darts will shorter the side edges of the front panel, leaving the full length in the middle though to cover The Girls. With my reversible tunic from last Saturday, I wanted the back to be a couple inches longer than the front, so I left the side seams uneven on purpose. With this top, however, since I cut the solid black back panels from further up the skirt, they were already a couple inches shorter than the pink patterned front panels. So the bust darts actually shortened the front's side edges to be the same as the back. Hope that clears some things up, but let me know if you have any other questions.

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  8. It turned out great! Very nice job turning the pattern sideways. Much more flattering.

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