Grey Silk Tunic. Part 1

Good Morning, dear Readers!

This will be a short post because I’m actually in the process of knocking off a ready-to-wear tunic.  Two things:

  1. High-end is a relative term. The tunic is gorgeous in it’s simplicity, and it’s $70 at COS, a clothing retailer. Not that high end, compared to the number of hours and work I’ll put in. Read on to see why I’m knocking off the tunic…..
  2. This is unselfish sewing. My daughter (#1) was intent on buying it at the Cos store, but there was just a little bit of snafu in the fit. It was beautiful at the top, but just a little too snug below the hip for my daughter’s persnickety liking. Since she was determined to own this, so the next step was to ask Mum to knock it off.  I obliged.

You are, therefore, looking at round one of the process — after a trek to High Fashion Fabrics to get the exact soft grey silk charmeuse and after pulling out three different soft-grey-silk-charmeuses. I mean, how many shades of soft grey are there? Do NOT answer that!

So, take a look a the images, and brief descriptions. More details in further posts. Don’t be scared, they’ll be short posts too:

cos1
The original. Thanks to COS website for the image. Note that it tapers below the hip.

 

cos-copy
The “muslin”. I used an old raw silk sari since I try to make my muslins wearable. This was a hit with the intended wearer.  Note that the hips are not tapered, and we decided to keep it that way for the first round.  The sari had a red-gold border for some “icing on the cake”. Looks much better on my daughter than on the dress form. The final garment of grey silk WILL have a tapered bottom. 

The Shoulder Seam! Now we’re talking …..

cos-back
The shoulder seam in the original is moved further down the back and forms a Raglan armhole at the back. Or you could call it a partial yoke. 
copy-back
My attempt at the pushed-back shoulder seam. Not bad at all. More about how I did that in a future post. 

I modified the Sencha top pattern from the Colette Pattern Company to create this, looking beyond the pattern envelope, noting the “bones” of the design. This is my third time using this pattern, and only the first one was made as the pattern intended.  Details about this pattern-hack when the final version is done. Promise.

I also considered Vogue 1496, since it has the elements of this design already, but there was too much fabric at the top and the back was not working for this tunic. Anyway, V1496 is pretty in it’s own way, and I am getting ready to make that for myself.

Last, here’s a look at the perfect V-neck of the original. Will I be able to pull this off in the final round with grey charmeuse (how do you spell it anyway?) which is patiently sitting in the new-fabric stash.

cos-neck
Image from COS website

Not such a short post, after all…..

Hope you have a great weekend!  Happy Halloween….

Samina

 

 

10 thoughts on “Grey Silk Tunic. Part 1”

    1. thank you! Surprised to hear from you! On this trial piece I pulled off the neck pretty well. I wish Asra Apa would pose in it since it’s for her. Hopefully she’ll pose for a picture in the grey replica.

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  3. I admire the work of many designers and buy many patterns, but all of my sewing work is this: “I bought this, it doesn’t fit, can you make me one that does?” And once we get past that ‘match this impossible-to-source fabric thang’, I do.
    So yes, I know that grey thing. Or gray. it’s a story about a girl, asking her mom to make her something perfectly.

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    1. I love your incisive and wonderful comments!! You’re right, it’s ultimately about a girl and her mother; maybe thrown in mom’s obsession with creating what other people have created first. Knocking off, to use a rude word.
      So, is it grey, or gray? Does it have to do with what part of the world you live in? I need clarification.
      Please keep the comments coming…..

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  4. I like the mock-up more than the original. Lucky daughter to get a custom made tunic and a satisfying challenge for you! Grey (the British spelling?) can be hard to wear near the face so getting the right shade is important.
    I look forward to seeing your knock off.

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  5. I like it too. And, I wouldn’t taper it at the hips either. I think that limits what you wear with it. I love the sleeves on the grey version. What are those, raglan? Interesting to see the shoulder seam on the grey so far in the back.

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