Book Tour :: The Tunic Bible + Giveaway

The Tunic Bible is a new book from C&T Publishing, written by Sarah Gunn and Julie Starr of Goodbye Valentino.  Their take on the classic tunic shape and using interchangeable components is such a cool way to offer a huge variety of looks from one base pattern.  Be sure to read to the very end, because I get to host a giveaway for a book for one lucky reader!

My post today about The Tunic Bible has been about a year in the making.  “How so?” you may ask – well, the answer is that I had the honor to play a part in the book’s creation.  Julie and Sarah approached me to assist by digitizing the pattern pieces they had drafted, and grade the sample size to the rest of the pattern’s size range.

This was no small undertaking, and is by far the largest contract patternmaking job I’ve completed to date.  It was such a fun challenge though, and Julie and Sarah were awesome clients!

You may think I had a leg up for the book tour by having previously made myself a tunic or three.  However, I was so busy while getting the pattern ready that I only muslined specific portions to check how things were fitting together.  Also I’m happily much leaner now; having lost about 25 pounds since May of this year and I am making a smaller size than I would have last September.

The version I made from The Tunic Bible is the tunic length using the elongated placket with the band collar.  There are more necklines than I can really count since many of the plackets can be installed visible or to the back of the fabric for an invisible placket, or combined with collars, bias finishes or trims.  Even the sleeves have a wide variety of styles with the pattern pieces and other options like a split sleeve described in the book.  The book shows a gallery of different styles and then gives the page numbers in the instructions for those combinations.  It’s kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure book – remember those?

The bodice has options for fisheye darts on the back for a more shaped silhouette.  I took advantage and used the darts, which plays nicely with my swayback.  I also used the optional vents in the side seams.

The book recommends making a muslin before cutting into your fashion fabric.  My muslin showed that I needed a forward sloping shoulder adjustment, which I did here.  I also narrowed the side seams at the hip ever so slightly as I have a more rectangular shape and not the standard hourglass.  I also adjusted the sleeve length to be bracelet length ending right at my wrist bone.  My measurements are currently 42″ bust, 38″ waist, and 43″ full hip, and I’m 5’8″ tall.  I made an XL in this pattern with the adjustments mentioned above.

The tunic can be made in a wide variety of woven fabrics, and there’s even one scoop-neck version that is designed specifically for knits!  The fabrics I used are a gorgeous Japanese-style ikat manufactured by Hoffman Fabrics and Kaufman Brussels washer linen blend for the placket and collar, both purchased from Fabric.com.  I really can’t say enough about the main fabric – it’s soft and drapey with a sort of homespun feel.  It washed and pressed well and was easy to work with.  I’ll definitely keep this on my use again fabric list.  I’m also a big fan of the washer linen – all the beauty of linen without wrinkling the moment you step away from the ironing board.  I think the combination of options and fabric give it an Eastern vibe which I like very much!

May I applaud myself a bit for how well I placed the print?  The placket is perfectly centered in the woven repeat and nary a plus sign in an inappropriate spot!  This looks great with the Jalie Eleanor pants I made, or it will work equally well with leggings.

Now let’s hear about that giveaway, right?  C&T Publishing will give one copy of the book to a winner selected from my blog.  US winners will receive a printed copy, and a digital version to non-US winners.  Simply leave a comment and the winner will be chosen on October 11 as the tour wraps up.

Be sure to check out the rest of the tour participants – I’m rubbing shoulders with a bevy of sewing celebrities!

October 3: C&T + Pattern Review

October 4: Cloning Couture + Generation Q Magazine

October 5: Oonaballoona + Feather Stitch Avenue

October 6: Allie J + Thanks I Made Them

October 7: Sew Busy Lizzy + Jennuine Design

October 8: Inside the Hem + Girls in the Garden

October 9: Sew Manju + My Love Affair With Sewing

October 10: Evolution of a Sewing Goddess + Creating in the Gap

October 11: House of Pinheiro + The Tunic Bible