Liesl&Co. Late Lunch Tunic

I've been toying with the idea of starting my own sewing blog for awhile.  Lately I've been sewing for myself more and reading the blogs of other women who sew for themselves and getting inspired.  So here we go ...

Like the rest of the Oliver+S virtual fan club, I was thrilled to hear that Liesl Gibson had come out with a new line of patterns for women.  When the Liesl&Co. patterns dropped, though, I was on the fence about them at first.  They looked very cute on lithe models, but my curvier shape needs things to be fitted somewhere.  Otherwise I may as well just wear a paper bag.

That said, I decided to order the Late Lunch tunic pattern.  It had a front yoke like the Wiksten Tova, my other favorite tunic pattern, which I haven't bought because it seems only to look cute on those whose cups overrunneth not.  And I knew the instructions would be good.

On the latter, I was not disappointed.  The instructions are great, plus Liesl included FBA instructions in the pattern itself.  Though my measurements would put me at a 12, I cut an 8 and did an F-cup-sized FBA.  I had some denim-look linen I had found in the $2.97 pile at G Street Fabrics while in the States for little man's birth.

When I finished the top, it looked quite maternity.  The front yoke did not clear my bustline, even with the FBA, and that amount of gathering in the substantial fabric was positively bunchy.  I didn't take photos, just ripped and made a couple of adjustments.  I took the bodice in on each side by 2". Instead of gathering, I made huge inverted box pleats on the front and the back skirt panels.  It looked better, but there's nothing I can do to make the top fit better.

So, a couple months later, I decided it was time for another try.  I've lost nearly 30 pounds since May and I was desperately in need of clothes that fit.

This time I used a lovely plaid double gauze that I picked up on sale at Fabric Mart. 

Isn't it pretty?  I love these colors.

I lengthened the bodice 2" and cut 3/4" off each side of both bodice pieces, for a total of 1.5" off each side, before sewing together.  I also reduced the width of each skirt panel by 2". The bodice length ended up exactly right, but somehow the bodice was just slightly too tight.  I can't work out why, since I took more off each side seam when I altered my already-sewn linen tunic.

The double gauze was a little wonky to work with, and I think it would have been a good idea to sew some stabilizer or elastic into the horizontal seam joining the bodice and skirt, because it stretched a bit while I was sewing it.  But the fabric is lovely and floaty - and I ordered three more yards in each of the other two colorways (for only $2.40 a yard - steal!).  Not sure what I will use them for - maybe a floaty summer dress for the green.  The pink and purple is ... very ... pink and purple.  So maybe that will be for the girls.

But I wear this a lot.

It's comfy, but still looks more pulled together than a tatty old tshirt.

I want to make more!