The Late Night Sewist

Hi!

If you have been here before you might know already that one of the “neutral” colors for me is khaki green and that I am hopelessly drawn to it. In today´s post I will show my first make of 2022, but it is actually just a side project from making a coat! And it was easy to have this as a side project since I didn´t have to change the threads, so you already know one major fact about the coat-to-be!

But this here is the Ginnie tunic from Style Arc. A pattern that I bought a while ago and at some point looked at it with a sigh and thought that I don´t really see myself making it . But then, a magical moment at a fabric shop a few weeks ago and I knew it was it.

I made a few changes to the pattern: firstly added 10 cm to the skirt piece to make it dress length instead of tunic; used eyelets for the cord openings instead of buttonholes (I had to wait for nearly a week until the eyelets in suitable color and size arrived); and the biggest surprise of all – I had to cut new sleeves as the original ones were so tight that I could hardly put the dress on, not to mention roll the sleeves up to attach with the tabs! I was lucky to have enough fabric but really, this has never happened to me so if you plan to make this pattern then make sure to check the sleeves first. I cut my normal size 10 from Style Arc and the rest of the dress fits just fine.

And lastly, I lined the skirt because the fabric is polyester twill and I was afraid it might get clingy when rubbing against the tights. I don´t know if the lining helped, but the skirt does not cling and the dress is generally very comfortable to wear despite the polyester. The fabric looks a bit velvety in photos because it has a slightly brushed effect. For those in Estonia and interested in buying, I bought it from Kangadzungel outlet in Tallinn. The fabric was 5 EUR/m, while the eyelets that I ordered from Abakhan and only used two of the package of 24, cost 10 euros!

And those pockets! This is what attracted me about the pattern in the first place and this is the first time for me making this type of pockets. However, they are easier to make than they look and I love how they came out. I wasn´t sure about the elongated bodice, but it works well with these pockets and sleeve tabs and generally gives me a safari ride vibe…. which takes me to the boots! Honestly, I never wore this kind of boots before, but they seem to be popular at the moment and then I saw a pair of khaki ones on somebody… At that moment I decided I needed a pair too, and exactly in khaki! So generally this look might be too… I don´t know….safari?… but I wear these boots every day since buying them and I am still wondering about the fact every time. It is nice not to take yourself too seriously, so although they are a step to the side for me, I love them and I love that I can wear them with this dress, but I also wore them with snow pants earlier when sleighing with my kids. I know that the black background doesn´t show them so well, so here is a better pic:

I think that khaki goes really well with (antique) brass details so while I had jeans buttons in suitable color at hand, it took some time to find matching eyelets in the size I needed. These are small details but I really think that these two eyelets add a nice touch to the dress in comparison to the buttonholes that were suggested by the pattern.

I used to be really intimidated by these hardware details and always asked my husband to attach them, but this time I just borrowed his hammer and did everything by myself! One thing that I am annoyed with myself as well as with Style Arc is that despite of knowing that cutting a neck band anything else than on bias will lead to it not laying flat, and I still followed the instructions at this point. Why is the neck band suggested to be cut straight in the first place? And what is wrong with me that I still follow this kind of suggestions? Anyway, it started annoying me too late in the process, so no going back, but it could look so much better if I had used my brain!

Generally this dress has been a nice opportunity to try something new without getting exhausted or trapped in something too complicated and this feels refreshing as I am working on that said coat at the same time.

Until soon!