For the Love of a Tunic - A Sewing Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a haberdashery known by all in the land as Cold Water Creek.  Princess Pandora loved to peruse the apparel at Cold Water Creek.  It was a rare haberdashery where most of the garments fit Princess Pandora well, and the styles were timeless, so Princess Pandora didn't mind spending the Prince's gold for the lovely garments.

Then one day an Evil Sorcerer began casting spells on the Cold Water Creek haberdasheries.  First, he made the seamstresses hands less nimble so that the stitching was wonky.  Next, he made the cotton grow huge fibers so that the weavers could no longer weave it in to fine cloth.  Finally, he cast a spell of delirium on the fiber artists so that their prints were no longer timeless.

Alas, one day a purple grey mist fell over the land and when it cleared all of the Cold Water Creeks in the land had disappeared.  It was a sad day for Princess Pandora.

Shortly after the stores had closed she went to retrieve her favorite tunic from her wardrobe only to find that it was so thread bare from wear that it had rips that could not be repaired.

Princess Pandora was devastated and swore she would never be a slave to RTW fashion again.  She would learn to make her own garments.  Thus a new hobby and love of cloth was born, and Princess Pandora lived happily ever after!

This fairy tale is based on a true story.  The tunic in the story was made of a silk cotton voile.  It had a light tan background with a leaf like print in shades of rust, grey, and little pops of yellow.  There was a front placket with pearl snaps, the sleeves were gathered at very narrow cuffs that also used pearl snaps and could be turned up and held with D rings and a strap that was attached inside the sleeve.  It had a rounded hem and a smallish Mandarin style collar.

I am determined to remake this tunic.  I wish I had held on to it to make a pattern from, because it was perfectly proportioned for me.  Instead, I am going to use McCalls M6885 in view D with quite a few changes.

Photo from http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/

It will need to be shortened, I will lose the chest pockets, and I will change the collar and cuffs.  I will use d-rings instead of buttons to hold up the rolled cuffs.  Also, I think I am going to square up and shorten the placket.  This pattern was one of the last things that I sewed before the injury, and the placket just feels long on it even as a dress.  I sewed a lengthened view B in navy blue with small gray polka dots, and maybe I will get some photos of this up if I can get my camera man to take some pictures this week.

I intend to make the tunic in this great voile from Mood.  It has similar colors to the beloved tunic, and I like the print.

Photo from Moodfabrics.com

I think voile is a great fabric for Fall.  I know that a lot of people consider voile a Spring or Summer fabric, but I like that it is a great transition fabric.  You can layer it on chilly days, or wear it alone on warmer days and still get away with pairing it with cute boots.

Have any of you ever remade a beloved RTW item?

Fall Sewing List 2014

With my wrist and hand injury, since I can’t really sew (though I did finish off a t-shirt yesterday and am paying for it today) I am working on things like organizing my sewing area, making my Fall sewing list, and cooing over fabric that I want to buy but can’t justify at this time.

I am normally not one to deprive myself when I find a fabric that really grabs me.  But, there is a lot of potential change that is happening around here, and the thought of adding to my stash and having to drag it half way across the country is just not appealing at all.

There are a lot of great things that I want to sew for Fall 2014, and I have a lot of light sweater knits in the stash that are screaming at me right now to make something beautiful out of them.  Most of the things that are really inspiring me right now have nothing to do with sweater knits though.

A few weeks ago when the temperatures dropped in to the 40s at night, and before I went on the disabled sewers list, I sewed a red and white stripe sweater knit into a self drafted dolman style tunic.  It is really cute and is already getting a bit of rotation in the wardrobe.  It is great with jeans, which I wear a ton of this time of year.   It is just a really nice transitional piece that I have been .

So what am I looking forward to sewing this Fall?

First things first, I am looking forward to sewing my wrap dress for the Curvy Sewing Collective Wrap Dress Sewalong.  For the sewalong, I am sewing Butterick B5898 but I will be sewing it with either long sleeves or three quarter length sleeves (can't make up my mind).  This is going to be done in a great red and black ponte that I found at Hancock Fabric.

Green Style Creations has a great raglan t-shirt that I am looking forward to diving in to this Fall.  I see many great things in this pattern, including a spirited shirt for my favorite college football team.  I may split it down the middle and make a raglan cardigan out of it as well, but we will see if I manage to get to that.

Burda Style #7168 in view C is also on the list.  I have a piece of eggplant purple faux suede that is calling out to be made in to this casual jacket.  Paired with a fitted t-shirt, skinny jeans, and tall boots, this jacket will become a Fall Classic.

I also intend to make Burda Style Animal Print Dress #133b from the downloadable site.  Am I the only one that thinks things get confusing between the patterns in the magazine, the downloadables, and the paper patterns all from Burda Style?  I have a cream and black animal print ponte from Fabric Mart that I am going to use to make this.  I really like the shape of this dress, and think it will be very cute paired with tights and ankle boots.

I know there will be many more items that will be on my Fall 2014 sewing list, but these are the ones that I will be sewing as soon as my wrist heals.  

So, I gotta know is there something that you are looking most forward to sewing this Fall?