Grey Tunic (or, The Story of a Wadder)

I started out making Butterick 5219, view B (yellow, below) with some thin grey patterned jersey that’s been in my stash for quite a while.

Obviously, I ended up with something quite different. The bottom band on the pattern was interfaced, and made the top hang several inches away from my body, since there is quite a bit of ease. It was definitely not wearable. So, I cut the band off, and it hung better, but was way too short (think crop top)… The picture above makes it look much longer than it actually is. So, if I were to make the pattern again, I would lengthen it, and leave off the bottom band.

Anyway, the top part of the shirt turned out pretty well, and since I had put all the work into it, I set out to find a way to salvage it. I had a big, thrifted dark grey t-shirt in my stash, so I cut that off below the sleeves, cut a few more inches off my “wadder”, and sewed them together. Amazingly enough, they fit together almost perfectly, and I was able to re-use the side seams and hem of the t-shirt!

The tunic was very loose and tent-like at this point, so I added a piece of black stretch lace over the seam to gather it. It seemed a little plain, so I tied a bow out of a fabric scrap, and pinned it on the waistband to add some interest.

I think it turned out really cute, especially considering it almost ended up in the trash!

And now, for something completely unrelated:

My parents are building an earth-sheltered home, and were finally able to break ground this past week! You can follow along with their progress here, if you’re interested, and I was able to use what I’m learning in school to design the logo for their project, Colorado SunTerra: