Both will be available for purchase beginning on June 23 at kzjostudio All new patterns will be on sale for 15% off through June 30th.
The Grace can be purchased at grace-summer-cardigan for $7.20
The Charlotte can be purchased at charlotte-tunic for $8.50
First I sewed the Grace Tunic - just because it was an easier pattern.
As always - I checked my square first.
Then I proceeded to tape my pattern together and cut out my size. I did both one after another since this can be a time consuming step cutting pages and taping them together.
Next I cut out all of my pieces.
The fabric I am using I purchased at C&C Fabrics (www.candcfabrics.com) in the Dallas Fashion District off of their $2/yard table. It's a soft pink knit with a taupe colored velvet dots all over.
The first step was to lay out the pieces, back and front, matching the shoulders and sides. Pin them together and sew. I made a small mistake here - I was only supposed to sew the shoulder seams and I sewed the shoulder seams and the sides - Oops.
I took my sleeve pattern piece and made sure to mark my notches to identify which part of the sleeve went to the front.
Then I sewed the sleeves together.
And I put the sleeves inside the top and sewed the sleeves on. Even though I goofed - they went in perfect.
Now to hem. The pattern gave various options and I decided to do a rolled hem. I figured it would be best for this fabric.
And It was done. It was a super quick and easy sew. I plan to make many more of these.
Next on my table was the Charlotte Tunic. This is not your ordinary tunic - this one has style and a splash of sexy. Here are my pieces cut out. This one also called for 1/2" wide double fold bias tape or you could make your own. I purchased this fabric from Super Textiles (No website, but the physical address is - 2667 Perth Street Dallas, TX 75220). This fabric was $4/yard and is a very nice and satiny. My fabric was not very big - I bought what was left, so I did not have enough to make my own bias tape and decided to use a brown.
First I sewed the back yoke.
Trimmed the excess.
Now iron the seam to one side.
Then fold right sides together again, and mark 3/4" from the edge.
Now sew the sides from the marked line to the bottom open end.
Turn right side out and press. Now mark it again 3/4" down from the top.
And stitch along the marked line
Yoke is done.
Now match the yoke open bottom with the notched on the back bodice. My yoke ended up being slightly narrower than the notches. Not sure why. So I just centered my yoke between them and sewed it on.
Next I serged the side seams. I think this was the only step of the entire pattern that I could use my serger on. All other steps were best suited for a traditional sewing machine.
Then it was time to add the bias tape to the bodice. I pinned it on before I sewed it to make sure it was even.
After sewing, I clipped the excess seam.
Then It was folded under and sewn into place.
This is what it looks like on the inside.
Now for the neck and neck bands. They were done the same way - but you also edge stitched the bias tape to make the neck bands.
Inside of the neck line.
Now to tuck the neck bands into the 3/4" opening on the back yoke. Sorry - I forgot to take a photo. Use a safety pin to hold them in and try the top on to check the band length - adjust if necessary - then sew them into place.
Last step is to hem the tunic. I ironed the hem then sewed it. I was tempted to do a rolled hem, but felt this tunic was a little too dressy for that and it needed a more refined finish.
Here are photos of me wearing the Grace cardigan.
Here I am in the Charlotte Tunic.
And here I am wearing them together.
I definitely see myself making more of these. The Grace Cardigan is so easy and quick. I think I can make one in under an hour. The Charlotte Tunic is a little more complicate, but still a fairly easy sew. It does take some time to get it looking polished, I think it can be completed in under 2 hours.
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