Style and Couture Sewing
Pattern, Bib Placket Tunic, The Tunic Bible
Fabric, Black Eyelet and White Lace, B&J Fabric
Photography by Santiago Vanegas
More photos of my tunic dresses. To read more about them, go to my previous post, I’m A Convert.
AND THE WINNER OF OUR GIVEAWAY IS……..LAURA. Congratulations!!
It was about a year ago when Sarah Gunn from Goodbye Valentino contacted me. She wanted to know if I would be interested in participating in a project she was working on with Julie Starr. The project was top secret and I had to sign on without knowing what I was signing on to. I didn’t hesitate a bit and said yes immediately. At the time I had only been blogging about 8 months and I was really looking to be a part of a sewing community.
After saying yes to who knows what, I started to speculate. Maybe I’d be trying out a pattern, making a garment, and putting my own spin on it. Hmmmm, yeah, I’ve got some ideas. Yeah, I’ve got this, I was thinking to myself. As I looked through my closet and my fabrics, I thought to myself, well, the only thing I don’t do is tunics, but hey, what are the odds?!
I anxiously awaited the email with the big reveal, and guess what! It’s a book about TUNICS! Uh oh. Hang on a minute while I panic. Maybe I don’t got this.
Okay, so here’s me, googling and pinning like crazy, breathing into paper bags. It was my “make it work” moment. By the time I had the pattern in hand, I was ready to tackle the challenge. And here’s the thing–as much as I worried that I wouldn’t be able to make a tunic that felt like me, I ended up making a garment that has my style more than anything I’ve made so far. Is it because I fretted over it so long and so hard? Maybe a little. But mostly I think it’s because a tunic may be the most versatile garment there is. Kudos to Sarah and Julie for figuring that out.
The Tunic Bible gives you all the tools to create something that is uniquely “you”. I didn’t think they could do it but I’m now a believer! So I went ahead and made a second tunic. The only two tunics in my closet, but not my last. I’ve got more ideas, all queued up, waiting to get sewn.
Let’s talk specifics. For both of the tunic dresses, I used the bib placket. The black one has two eyelet fabrics that I combined. I used a semi-sheer eyelet on the placket and sleeves. Instead of interfacing the placket, I underlined it with a stiff muslin. This served the purpose of providing structure but also a nice backing for the semi-sheer eyelet so that the main eyelet fabric wouldn’t show through. The sleeves are the fitted sleeve option which I shortened a bit, then added the scalloped ruffle. I used a pintucked trim around the bib and on top of the sleeve ruffle.
The white lace dress was sewn differently in that I wanted the lace unstructured and unlined. I had to use a tricky corner seam to attach the bib placket on this one. The bib is constructed using strips of lace cut from the main fabric and stitched together. Technically the bib placket is slightly more narrow than the pattern but that’s due to the width of the lace strip. I added a silk charmeuse bias binding and ties to the neckline to hold everything up. Inside, the seams were bound with silk charmeuse. For the sleeves, I added a bell to the end to give it more length. I decided not to sew the back darts on this tunic, since I preferred to have the lace uninterrupted. It gives it a slightly more boxy feel than the black tunic which is fitted with the back darts.
Now I know you’re thinking, I have to have this book. Well, you are in luck because I’m giving one away! Please leave me a comment and you will automatically have a chance at winning! The winner will be announced on October 11.
If you don’t already know, this post has been part of the blog publicity tour for The Tunic Bible. Be sure to check out what other bloggers have done with the tunic pattern. I’ve posted the schedule below. See you soon.
Pattern, Bib Placket Tunic Dress, The Tunic Bible (Both Dresses)
Fabric, Black Eyelet and White Lace, B&J Fabric
Photography by Santiago Vanegas
The Tunic Bible Blog Tour