Japanese Stylish Dress Book - Tunic G .

getting used to this self timer/ self shots thing. 

 My last sew of the year - This is tunic G from the Stylish Dress Book .
I was gifted this book from my  friend  this year. She loves sewing for her grandchildren and she thought her teenage granddaughter might like the styles but she apparently totally rejected the idea  . So there is one positive to be said for difficult teenagers ! I ended up with a great book .
Now after I cut this tunic out another friend told me how roomy the patterns are and she made a different top in quite a small size - umm too late !

 Here is a totally unadulterated shot of how large it was to start with. There are no finished garment  measurements that I can see anywhere so  I used size 12 which pretty much accorded with  my personal measurements. I thought that this would be OK because yes the tunic did look very large in the pictures but the models are petite waifs . So I took out a total of 24 cms from the bottom edge  6 cms from the front and back both sides tapering to nothing at the armhole. That was an improvement but still not quite right so I also took about 10cm from the length.
The tunic is still very very roomy but it is comfy and I like the style so it is a keeper. I used a pale ice blue textured ? poly blend and also my favourite buttons - ying and yang mother of  pearl beauties recycled from a top I sewed in the 90s. Wish I hadn't waited so long to re-use them.

I love lots of the patterns in this book so I definitely will  be making up more items but I will be totally more aware of the sizing. The tunic was relatively easy to make and the instructions and diagrams were adequate for someone with experience.

I`m glad 2014 is coming to an end - its been a mixed bag this year - good and bad - and I am just happy our family survived it.
In terms of sewing I managed to sew 25 garments for myself and my family.  16 were for myself and 9 for my husband and daughters. I also sewed curtains , pillowcases and kitchen hand towels for my eldest daughter who moved to Melbourne to go to uni. I was happy with what I made -both in quantity and quality and it all gets worn .
I hope everyone has a happy and healthy and safe 2015. Cheers to a New Year - Hip Hip Hooray.