A Break From Pants

I decided that before I embark on further pants-fitting adventures, I would take a break and work on a couple of projects that have been on the back-burner for quite a while.

I decided to make a tunic from some of the charmeuse that I have been stashing. I love the patterns and colors available in charmeuse, and I can't resist it, especially on sale! But I never really know what to do with it. I have managed to make only one thing, a button-down shirt from McCalls 5522. I spent a lot of time on that shirt, finishing everything with french seams and binding:


This time I used my brand-new serger for the seam finishing:


The pattern that I used was McCalls 5708, which is actually a Hillary Duff pattern. Although the styling in the pattern photo is very youthful, it has good "bones."


In fact, it is not drastically different from Kwik Sew 3461, except for the rounded neckline vs. the square.


Here is the finished product, looking a bit odd since I really need to pad the hips of my dressform:



As you can see, my hips fill it out quite a bit more!


And from the back. The neckband is constructed in 4 parts, the front and back both have bands and facings that are then sewn down to cover the raw edges, and the sleeves each have their own individual facings. The front is done in a contrast, although the back neckband is not:


I used starch on the fabric to make the fabric easier to handle. I sprayed the entire length of fabric before cutting, and then used more starch as I was pressing the hems and pleats. By using the starch as a stabilizer, I was able to turn under a tiny hem on the sleeve and at the bottom hem:


I also used starch when making the pleats. I didn't want to baste the seams together since charmeuse is fairly delicate, and I didn't know if the needle holes would close after a wash or not. So, rather than worry abut it, I just used lots and lots of starch and an iron to set in the pleats. There are 5 pleats across the top of each sleeve, as well as across the bodice front:


Overall, the shirt went together very easily. Al the pieces were clearly and correctly marked, and there were no difficult aspects of the construction. The sleeves were raglan-style, so they were very easy to set, no gathering or easing at all. The pleats were all well marked.

In constructing this I made no alterations. I cut an 18, and it worked just fine. Although I am a 34DDD, I did not make a full-bust adjustment because the front had 5 huge pleats across the front neckline, so there is really no need to add an FBA. If I were to make this again, the one change that I would make would be to lengthen the belt a bit, but this is something that I commonly find necessary with commercial patterns, I always lengthen waist ties and sashes.

I still have a couple more lengths of charmeuse, that I think may find themselves made into Burda 7693:


Vogue 1111:


Or even another version of McCalls 5809:


I have a pucci-esque print (the pink and black) that I think would look better in a simple tunic, but the black with the leaf print (far right) I think would look good in either a fitted style or a tunic. Or perhaps the leaf-print needs a tunic because it is so large scale. Who knows? I'll figure it out!!