Dots and Stripes

We interrupt our regularly scheduled sewing projects to bring you this- McCalls 5882, View B, the tunic, made out of 100% quilting cotton from stash.

I love this pattern! I love the boat neck, the narrow shoulders, the ties that cross in back and tie in the front, and all the nifty possibilities the pattern offers for mixing and matching pretty cotton prints.

"Oh no, here come the kitties!"

This is a simple empire waisted tunic, with narrow ties topstitched on over the underbust seam. this is a close-up of the center front:

This is what it looks like inside. The pattern calls for facings at neck and armholes, but I decided to line the bodice instead:

The ties are stitched down to within a few inches of center back (where the tunic closes with an invisible zipper):

This keeps the crossover up nice and high in the back and keeps the ties from sagging.

"Oh My! What are those kids doing over there?"

I started with a size 14 through the shoulders, and a size 16 from the underarm down. My waist and hip measurements actually indicated a size 20, but the pattern has enough ease that I was able to cut a 16 with no adjustments and it fits just fine. I did have to make a FBA. I added 1/2" of width and 5/8" of length which resulted in an underbust dart.

I also knew from my muslin that I needed to dart out about 1/2" on each side of the bodice under the bust (before the FBA) to snug the underbust seam up to my chest. Otherwise it was puffy and unattractive with the ties tied in front. I included this amount when I drew in the new dart.

Here is a shot of the new pattern piece (darts in pink) on top of the original (details added in blue.)

The FBA also resulted in a slightly lower bust point which worked out well for me. The original was a little bit high for me.

This is such a cute tunic. I'm not sure it's the most flattering thing on me, but I don't care. I'm going to wear it anyway! I can imagine all kinds of possibilities for mixing fabrics and adding embellishments to this. The pattern comes with detailed instructions for fitting the pattern using the multi size cutting lines, and even includes a template and detailed instructions for the embroidery on view A, the black and white tunic.

I highly recommend this pattern, which is a dead ringer for the Sabrina Tunic by the same designer, Kay Whitt, under her own pattern line, Serendipity Studio.

Stay tuned for a progress report on Summer Fields- I actually worked on it this weekend!