Stylish Dress Book Vol 1. Design Q or... my best make yet!

This is the pleated knit tunic from The Stylish Dress book volume 1 by Tuttle publishing.  And I have to say this is my favourite Japanese pattern book to date.  I LOVE each and every design.

The best thing about this tunic is without doubt the tucks; they are beautiful, and they create such wonderful folds in the fabric.  I am glowing at how mighty fine this garment is.

Now I am not saying it was an easy make.  Knit fabric and I are not exactly best friends. But I was determined to become at least nodding acquaintances with jersey knits.

I think the secret of my success here was... practice.  Here is what my first version looked like.  I made this one last week.  Yes, I know it's really wonky, and the stitching is a disaster, but I am a firm believer in learning from one's mistakes.

As wonky and lopsided as this is, the thrill I got from finishing it was immense, and it will do for bed!  Anyway, no sooner had I finished this than the next was cut out ready to go.  I practised the pleats on scrap fabric as well, and over time I got better.

The result is: I love it.

I can't say I didn't have help: sewing bloggers are marvellous at sharing their knowledge. I learnt so much from everyone's tips and tutorials.  Tilly and the buttons advice is good, and she links to other bloggers with even more advice. Really helpful.

The fabric is really pretty, grey and brown with gold - it is lovely, soft and fluid.  A lot of my ready to wear clothes are jersey, easy to wear and no ironing required. Would I sew jersey again? Yes, yes, yes. I have bought some more fabric in preparation.  But I'll tell you what, I can't wait to sew some nice sturdy non-stretchy cotton.  Bring it on.

Ooh! It’s a…..Japanese style tunic

Here is what it's supposed to look like (image from Stylish Dress book vol 2):

 

Here is what mine looks like:

I didn’t have any lace, or enough fabric to make full length sleeves, but I think it works.  The fabric is a blue heavy cotton with white fleck, and I really like it.

Like the dress I made from the same book, it’s lovely and loose, and very easy to wear.  I also love my patch pocket, perfect for posing with:

But remember I’m very new to stitching and made a few errors which experienced people wouldn’t make.  
 

Oops!  However, we all we learn from our mistakes, and I am not down-heartened at all.  I’ll still wear it at home, and each time I see my error I’llI resolve to think through exactly what I’m doing  before I sew a stitch next time

I’m still proud of myself for finishing and that’s the main thing.