Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Knit Tunic with a Front Yoke.

So this is the first installment in the trilogy called spam-with-blog-posts-containing-photos-of-me.

Today I'm showing you an altered version of a knit swing tunic from the Japanese sewing book called Simple Chic.
Maybe it's easier if you jump over to the blog Japanese Sewing Books. She made a review and is showing photos of the original tunic HERE. The pattern is H-1 - Jersey Flared Tunic. It's kind of easier to talk about alterations when you have seen the original, right.

I'll be right here waiting...... 


Okay, so now that you are up to speed on the original tunic you can see that I
 didn't do any mayor alteration but I think I did some important ones. 

The first thing I did was adding the front yoke. I didn't have enough fabric to either make it grey or blue so to make the color blocking a bit more purposeful I added the yoke so that the color from the back piece continued on the front. I'm not sure if that makes any sense besides in my head but hey, that's where it matter, right!


The second alteration I did was making it more fitted in the upper body and then have it flare out just below the waist (instead of starting to flare out under the arms like the original). It's hard to see in these photos because I ended up putting a belt on but later down in this post I'm showing you another version without the belt.

Looking at myself I do prefer it with the belt but I think I can just about swing it without too and I have totally mostly worn it without a belt.


I made the smallest size based on my bust measurement (and the fact that my fabric is quite stretchy) but I was forgetting one important detail. While my bust might be small my shoulder width and arms are more medium sized. Oops.
The sleeve was suppose to be longer but I had to cut the lower part off because it was simply too tight. And you can see at the photo above how the sleeve is crawling up my arm whenever I was moving.
It's not so bad that I felt the need to cut new sleeves but I definitely fixed it for the next one...further down in this post!


The fabric is this amazing thin, stretchy and drapey Rayon Bamboo French Terry from Fabric.com. It's a bit pricey ($15/yard) but worth every penny and comes in great colors. I cannot not recommend it enough - and no I'm not an affiliate!


Here is my second version where I fixed the sleeves. Ah, much better.

The stripe is an amazing cotton interlock (leftovers from an earlier project) and the heathered black is another thin and drapey French Terry. This time from Girl Charlee.


A style like this is just perfect for leggings, jeggings (like I'm wearing) or skinny jeans if you don't quite feel showing off your thighs that day. I honestly feel like I'm wearing pajamas but I would mean I look like I dressed that day. And the boots are just for show, I would just stick my feet in my black leather Vans and be on my way.

I'm sorry but I don't have any more photos of the last version. The rest are either similar to the above or blurred and out of focus, so this will have to do but I think you get the idea, right!

Thank you!!

10 comments:

  1. I love the color blocking you did and the length is great -- and I really like that first version with the belt a lot, though it does look great without, too. And the stripes! I love love love stripes, but I am too scared to sew with them most of the time so I will just sit here and admire your beautiful work. Love your posts. You have to do more of them, please!! I'm so pushy, ha ha ha!

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  2. Very cute! I love tops like this! Great job!

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  3. I love the original but your versions are realllll gooood! The color blocking is a fantastic idea that I might just have to copy ;-)

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  4. They look great on you, Mie! It looks good with the belt but also without it. I can't decide which one I prefer. Both dresses are awesome! And I love your hair!

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  5. I love both versions, they suit you so well, and bringing the blue to the front yoke totally makes sense to me too! <3 You are absolutely gorgeous, I love your hair so much; yes I'll never get over my own hair ahahah ;) And I'm a big fan of the trilogy "spam-with-blog-posts-containing-photos-of-me", so keep them coming! xoxo

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  6. Please spam us!!! Lovely dresses, I think is a brilliant idea the colour blocking you did with the first one. The length of the sleeves in the second one is wow, lovely, very chic!:)

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  7. You are gorgeous!! I love them both. Love the sleeve length on #2. Very cool.

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  8. Love it! The yoke is a really clever idea. You look awesome! Keep those posts coming!

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  9. The colour blocking really works, great idea.

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