Pages

Monday, January 11, 2010

Dressing Up The Winter


Being at home with 3 kids & in the throes of a chilly, snowy winter out here, a wardrobe comprised of sweats, fleeces & other misc. comfortwear is not exactly stylish, but makes sense.  Next weekend is my daughter's baptism though, so I needed to sideline the fuzzy robe for a nice winter dress.  The trouble was nothing seemed right-until I made this little number.

I used the Torii Tunic pattern from Serendipity Studios & a cute bird print fabric I found at Joann's.  It has a real European style to it that I really like.  I also like how there are a lot of variations that can be done with it (shorter to wear with jeans, different sleeve lengths, using more fabric combos, etc.).  I was a little nervous installing an invisible zipper & that there were a lot of pieces to put together.
 
While I plan on making a few more (tunic length to wear with jeans sounds cute) I did have two big gripes about this pattern.  First is the less-than-helpful yardage info.  It's the same for all sizes (there is no way XXS & XXL require the same amount of fabric) & lists all pieces separately as though you're using different fabrics for every section.  This made it impossible to calculate what I really needed.  I laid out the pieces on my cutting mat and measured instead. BIG difference of 2 2/3yds total vs. the 4+yds indicated.  Second, while this pattern is probably not for a beginner, the wording of the directions made some steps seem more complicated than they actually are and jumped around a bit too much.  All in all though, I do like how it turned out, so I'd say it was worth getting if you have moderate sewing skills and like coming up with your own color & print combos.    

5 comments:

  1. good job - all those pieces and lines are making my mind boggle. I'm obviously not ready for dressmaking yet :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been wanting to make that pattern for awhile now. We have it in our shop and I drooled over it when I first saw it. I wondered about her instructions. Thanks for letting us know. I think yours turned out lovely!

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely tunic, found your blog by googling the tunic as I am planning on making it myself for next summer (voile) -- and your report and pictures reassured me. Funnily enough, my colour ideas are very similar to you, so your picture relaly reinforced the idea I had in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice job on the tunic-dress!!

    I have used patterns from Serendipity Studios, and when I have questions on the instructions or anything on the pattern, I Facebook the designer, Kay Whitt, on her Facebook page Sew Serendipity. She answers within hours most the time. I just had a question today and she answered. She is MOST helpful!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been a few years since this dress (and my skills have vastly improved), so I may do another and it helps to know there's a real person who can answer any questions. Thanks for stopping by & letting me know!

      Delete

Getting your comments brightens my day. I'd love if you left one:)