Ruffle Tunic Dress

Thank you so much for all the great comments on my little pretties and my anniversary wishes. Rachel and Linda, take the plunge and make some, you will not regret it. I have a few patterns but I haven't tried them yet. I like Antoinette's tutorial because you use an old pair of underwear that already fits you great.

Last summer I purchased a yard and a half of some ruffle fabric from Joanns clearance section in the hopes of making a tank top or something for work. The more I thought about it I wanted to make a tank dress but I wasn't sure I had enough fabric to accommodate that. It also doesn't help that I'm 5'9. I had the day off on Friday so I decided to see if I could work or at least start to work it out.

I started with the tank from Kwik Sew 3740.

I made the cowl so much this past winter I was comfortable with the fit of the bodice. I figured that the tank should probably fit the same way. I drafted out a skirt adding it to the bodice and angling out to make it a little more a-line than straight. I wanted a more tunic/shift look than a sheath dress.

It wasn't hard keeping the ruffles lined up as long as I took my time and sewed slowly. The hardest part were the armholes. Sewing around in a circle had the ruffles going in two different directions. There were a lot of stop and go moments. I really like how this dress/tunic turned out and I wore it to work on Monday with capris as I thought it was too short for work, but I can possibly see myself wearing it out on a date night or possibly to gig in. Oh, and yes my friends, the dress is fully lined (sorry no pics, I guess I was in a hurry). There was no way I was going anywhere in this dress as sheer as it is.

Loop Neckline T-Shirt Tutorial

I wanted to make one more top for SMOT since it coming to an end. This would make top #4 for me. I was trying to figure out what to make when I came across some inspiration from the LOFT.

I really liked the way the top was embellished and thought to myself, I'd like something like that but in a basic top/t-shirt. Since I didn't have a pattern for the basic t-shirt, I decided to come up with my own. Now, I did promise a tutorial of how I've been coming up with the self-drafted tops I've been making lately. I didn't want to disappoint anyone so, here's a little look see of how I've been doing it.

I started out with a t-shirt that I've had for quite some time. I liked the neckline and cut of this shirt. From there I place the shirt on my drawing table/workboard. I lay my tracing paper over it and place drafting tape at all 4 corners. From there I use my blunt edge tracing wheel by Clover(If you don't have one of these, get one, they're great). I then trace the outline of the top front and back. It looks a little something like this when you're done. Next, draw the lines in with a pencil. I then double check what I drew by folding the top in half and laying the drawing up against it. I start making any corrections there. Lastly, I lay the back and front pieces against each other to make sure they match, if they don't(which they normally don't), I make any necessary corrections to make sure that they do. From there, I drew in my seam allowances and cut the pattern out. I then sewed my top together. For the neckline embellishment I cut 2 inch strips 60 inches long, or however long the width of your fabric is for bias-tape trim. Fold the strip in half lengthwise and iron. Open the strip back up and then fold the edges in to the center fold and iron. Now fold the piece in half again and stitch it closed. At this point you are now ready to start pinning your bias stripes on to your blouse. Make sure to finish off your neckline first, even though you don't see that in these 2 pictures. I tend to work backwards sometimes. If you have a dressform, use her. If not, lay your blouse on a table or your ironing board, it's just as good. That way you can get a sense of what the blouse will look like as you go along. Pin the edge of the bias stripe to the blouse then fold the bias strip in a zig zag formation forming a loop and pinning as you go. The first row should be about a quarter to a half inch from the edge of the blouse. When it looks the way you want it, baste the strip to your blouse and then take it to the machine. Do the same thing again, but this time, make sure that the bias strip is covering the edge of your blouse. Pin, baste and then stitch it to your blouse permanently. That it. Enjoy, and Embellish to your heart's content.

SMOT #1 Update - Self Drafted Pattern

First off I want to thank all of you for the lovely comments you left me about my jacket. As soon as I wear the whole outfit which also includes the Vera Wang skirt, I'll get pictures. Rachel, to answer your question, I based and sewed the jacket and lining pieces during the week. On Saturday, I sewed in the sleeves and took care of all my fitting issues.

In my last blog post I said that I was going to try and replicate a top or top overlay that I saw on a woman I passed the over day walking down the street. Tuesday night I cut my drafted pieces out, and last night I got a chance to work on the top a little. I still have a little tweaking to do. The back neckline is drooping a little. I have it pinned in the picture so that I know what needs to be taken in. I figure I can take the shoulders out to a point and then re-sew it pulling the back neckline in. I also need to do some maneuvering on the sides where the front pieces overlap. They are drooping a little to and also need to be taken in. Other than that, I think it looks good so far. I'm hoping I can finish it up by or on the weekend. If anyone is interested, I can do a post on how I drafted the top.