Fringe Benefits

I've had my eye on the Chalk and Notch Fringe pattern for a while now. I worried it might be too baggy, but I just kept coming back. Perhaps, I reasoned, if I made it in a smaller size with a drapey fabric, I could pull it off. I found an inexpensive rayon challis on fabric.com, and bought the pattern. It's still hard for me to drop $14 on a single pattern, but this pattern was so well designed and written that it was well worth the cost. I don't enjoy printing off patterns and assembling them, but this pattern not only had a layers feature that allowed me to print just the size(s) I wanted, it also had a guide that told you which pages you'd need to print based on your size/view. Brilliant!

I picked the size that would give me three inches of ease on my bust measurement, and it fits beautifully. I think I'd prefer the waistline to be a bit higher, so I'll probably adjust that on my next one (I bought this rayon, too!). I made the dress length, but shortened it by 4 1/2" so that it would be tunic length. My one complaint on this pattern is the neckline. It's not too low but it gaps horribly, so I may try to adjust that (hoping it won't change the look too much). I don't really mind wearing it with a camisole, but it would be nice not to need one. I did ties in the side seams, and that made all the difference in fit. I think I would have found it too baggy otherwise.

Fortunately my fabric required only rudimentary pattern matching, so I didn't have to spend too much time on my least favorite stage (pinning and cutting!). Actually, I ended up tracing most of my pattern pieces onto the fabric with a disappearing fabric pen, because pinning rayon challis is a bit of a nightmare. It sewed and pressed beautifully, though! You just can't beat that rayon drape.

One little issue I had was the interfacing. The interfacing pieces are designed to be smaller than their corresponding pattern pieces, to reduce bulk in the seams. It's a great idea, but with no stitching holding it down, I had problems with my fusible interfacing pulling away from the fabric during construction. Most of it ends up stitched down, but I had to re-fuse a few pieces along the way.

This tunic is everything I hoped it would be, and it works perfectly with my Goldilocks sweater (especially now that the turmeric dye has faded to a goldenrod hue). I'm hoping the fabric holds up, because this has all the hallmarks of a wardrobe staple.

I have some other projects coming up (including another Fringe tunic), and I've been finding sewing to be therapeutic of late. Most of the fabric I ordered recently included rayon (in everything from challis to jersey to sweatshirt fleece), so that's my fiber theme for the foreseeable future!