Tuesday, August 1, 2017

The Sleeveless Ruffle Tunic


During my home economics sewing class I had to complete two projects, the first  a plain white short sleeve T-shirt, the fabric for this was supplied by the teacher. The second project, a long sleeved jumper with ribbing at the neckline, sleeves and waist, fabric for this project I had to buy myself. I picked a black and white stripe fabric with white ribbing. The first project was a warm up and once we finished it, the teacher instructed us to begin cutting out the jumper project.  I laid out my fabric and began cutting just as I was finishing up this step the teacher came to check on my progress and informed me that I should  PATTERN MATCH my stripes. Crestfallen, I decided right then never to buy striped fabric again. 30 years later,  ordering fabric online being a couple of dollars short for free shipping I added  2 yards of a jersey knit fabric to my order,  My package arrived a week later I was shocked to see that I had ordered a stripe. A stripe, how did I do that, what was I thinking? After I calmed down I made a dress and pattern matched, it turned out well, I no longer fear the stripe.



The Pattern-Simplicity D0657 A. This pattern is for stretch fabric. I made option 3, the sleeveless ruffle tunic in a medium.
The Fabric - A 50/50 cotton / polyester jersey knit stripe, colour pink and oat, it's 59'' wide. The pink stripe is soft and smooth, the oat stripe is rough to the touch. It was $3.45 a yard from Fabric.com.
Stitching- I used a narrow zigzag stitch( length 3, width 1) for all seams and a straight stitch for top stitching (length 3). My needle was a ball point size 80/11 and for the hem I used a twin needle. Also I used a walking foot.
Final thoughts- no fit adjustments were necessary. I deviated from the instructions when attaching the ruffle because I was not liking the overlap hem above the ruffle. instead I pressed the seam of the ruffle up towards the tunic and top stitched it to hold in place.
This is my third make with a ruffle. I don't  like the gathering of fabric to make a ruffle but I do like the end result. so its safe to say If I can add a ruffle I will!

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