Simplicity 3786 Pintucked Tunic - like sherbert between courses...

There's nothing like a known quantity, to recover from a frustrating sewing project! 

After squandering my lovely white lawn on the Style Arc Daisy Tunic, I was practically hugging my black lawn to my chest, protecting it from sewing hazards created by Coco. My provisional plan had been to sew a Daisy in black lawn as well, rounding out a little gap in my closet. But no, no, no.

And flipping through my patterns, I found this one. Head smack. I made it in white embroidered cotton eyelet 3 years ago, and it's on its last legs. So soft, practically falling apart from wear. I love it. Wish (there goes a penny) I had used my white lawn to make another.

For this version, I chose view D, with a modified sleeve and neckline. 

Bunches of pintucks, 5 on each side of center front, and only 1/8" wide. I seldom use tracing paper, but it saved my sanity on this one. I traced the pintuck fold lines and pressed them before I stitched them. Having a presser foot with a 1/8" mark really helps!

Some of the sewing pics are lightened to show the details

I used a white chalk to place the back casing ... thus ensuring that I had white chalk all over this blouse by the time I was done. But, hey, white shows up really well on black!

As with my first version, I opted out of the mandarin collar. Instead, I applied a long (40" x 1 3/4") bias binding around the neckline, leaving 14" hanging on each side.

And I decided to do a mid-length gathered sleeve. This was really easy - I just lengthened the upper sleeve from the pattern (about 18" from the center of the sleeve cap) and gathered it into a narrow cuff. The cuff is 10" in diameter - it doesn't catch on my arm or bug me.

Parting shot:
I've had a list of small house projects hanging around my kitchen counter for months. Progress this week - a trip to Home Depot. Just because I bought all this stuff doesn't mean I'm actually getting anything done - it's all marinating on my kitchen table.

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And all of this is such a blessing. I'm so grateful.

Remembering September 11, 2001 - Coco