Making a lot out of a Little

Because of working at a fabric store, I tend to purchase a lot of the remnant pieces as we finish off the bolt. This print from Anna Sui, was a remnant, only 45" wide and a border print. When people hear the word "border" they tend to cringe because now you have put a little more thought into what to do with it! It was a fun black and blue print on a floral jacquard silk/ cotton. The only problem was there wasn't enough fabric to do anything with it. (Or so I thought...) 

When I stumbled upon the piece in my stash, I thought to myself, today is the day I'm going to find something to do with this. I folded the 1 1/8 yard piece in half, so selvedges met. I held it up to my waist and thought this would make a cute skirt! But I was really thinking about a tunic dress, so I raised the fold just below my bust and it was perfect. After cutting the piece in half at the fold, I baste-stitched the top of each piece to create gathers. After much altering and cutting, I got a suitable "bottom half." I had some black ponte knit that worked great for the top of the tunic. I hand-drafted the top and after a few alterations, sewed it to the bottom half. I was having some problems with ballooning of the skirt section because of the gathers and the nature of this heavier silk/cotton. So I bias-cut a ribbon from a small section of leftover fabric. It really finished the garment off nicely!

I haven't done very many self drafted patterns before, so I would say this was a successful attempt. I learned a lot about measuring myself, which I will then translate into times when I do use patterns. My experience in making clothes with patterns definitely helped me when trying to draw appropriate shapes for the bodice front and back.   

The picture doesn't to the tunic justice. I was anxious to get it on my blog, so I didn't even do my hair or put tights or leggings on, or shoes for that matter! It is a little too short to wear as a normal dress, so I will be wearing leggings or tights.