Today's post is another Reader's Choice. Perhaps I should make Friday, Reader's Choice Friday? If you'd love to see Friday be Reader's Choice, I'm going to need ideas. Please feel free to contact me here OR on facebook at my page Organics By Ti! I got so many good photos today thanks to a quick fabric back drop and a very helpful 5 year old. I think I'm getting close to actually having nice photos!

So today's post inspiration was the result of someone asking for something they could wear to cover up their leggings after a work out. That's an easy one, Tunics! Swap out your work out tank for a simple tunic and you look like you actually got dressed, not just stepped out of the gym. Problem was, my sweet reader didn't have a tunic pattern. WHAT?! I know, try not to die on me here. She also didn't have money to buy a tunic pattern. Further she's an inverted triangle and just didn't know what to do.

Sewing by Ti to the rescue! So if you do have money for a pattern AND are an inverted triangle, these are my favorites:
Patterns for Pirates Layer Me Up
Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan
Love Notions La Bella Donna

All 3 are awesome for different reasons. But, if money is scarce and you REALLY need a tunic, you've got 2 very good choices.

Love Notions Laundry Day T (free with code from the Love Notions facebook group)
So Sew Easy Fit and Flare Dress

Wait, you're probably saying the Fit and Flare isn't a tunic. You bet your booty its a tunic. Get it, booty, tunic... I kill me! This one, is MEANT to be a tunic (also a shirt and if I can  manage to find enough fabric in my stash a fabulous sleeveless maxi dress for the summer. Oh yes, this dress can be all those things and for the low LOW price of FREE! So you've probably already seen my other 2 posts on this fabulous dress, but if you need to revisit them here they are:
So Sew Easy Fit and Flare as a Shirt
So Sew Easy Fit and Flare as a Dress

So welcome my Fit and Flare Tunic. Oh it is a little piece of love. Please note, I extended the short sleeve that comes with the pattern into a long sleeve. It worked beautifully on my dress version. This time, not so much. :( The forearm is just a tiny bit too tight and the stitches blend in so well, I can't unpick it. :( I will be able to easily cut it at 3/4 length though and the fit will be acceptable.

So this one is sewn up in my favorite Purple Seamstress Black Cotton Lycra. I just LOVE this stuff. Have I said that on like 15 other posts? Maybe. But it is just the right weight to be thick but not too thick and stretchy but not too stretchy. It is just my favorite.

My awesome side panels are from Girl Charlee. This is an awesome Ponte De Roma that I snagged up with other intentions. Then it was shipped to me and it wasn't quite what I expected. It isn't as stretchy as I had expected and I sort of wish I had taken that into account. If I was going to sew this one again, I'd definitely use smaller seam allowances to make up for the fact that the stretch isn't as soft as my jersey dress. But ripping these seams would result in more tears and anger than it is worth. I'll still wear this one because it is so beautiful, but important lesson learned, this pattern needs some soft horizontal stretch or it'll feel restrictive.

So as you can see I made this an almost tunic length. I actually intended to put a band on the bottom rather than hem, but then I was so upset about the sleeve that I just couldn't. I admit I wasn't thinking rationally. Just cut the sleeves just below the elbow and all would be fine.

So how did I get from the pattern as written to here?
-My measurements are 33 over bust, 37 full bust, 29 waist, 37 hip. I used Size C which matches up to 35 (my over bust +2), 30, 38
-Raised neck line 1/2". It was scandalously low, even for me! Add a 1/2"
-Full Bust adjustment of 2 inches (1" to 1/4 pattern piece)
-Raise waist 1 1/2". I'm 5'1" tall. The last 2 versions the waist didn't quite sit where it needed to. I feel these new ones make me look even thinner!
-Figure out where to hack the pattern at the bottom to get a tunic length. The best way to do this is to compare the pattern to a tunic you already love. BUT, if you don't want to do that, you can measure down the side of your body. Just remember to include hem allowance.

There's one other thing I want to cover today and then I'll touch on it more in a post next week. SHOULDERS. There is a marvelous document that talks about the measurements the garment industry uses to draft clothing. The document itself is CRAZY overwhelming. But I just want to chat about shoulders, because if your shoulders don't fit, the rest of your garment isn't going to fit right either. So my shoulders are 15" across the back and 13 3/4" across the front. This is a pretty average back to front for a size 22. My hips fit into a size 12. Oh boy. Now, obviously there's no vanity sizing in that and we're only comparing within this chart. But that explains why the bottom half of me needs a size small and my top half needs a large and why ALL my RTW shirts have crazy shoulder wrinkles.

I'm not saying any of this to overwhelm you are scare you or make you say, "fitting is too hard!" Nope, I just want you to tuck this little bit of information into the back of your mind. Take a minute with a friend or a spouse this week and measure your front and back shoulder measurements. Compare it to the chart. Do your waist and hip measurements match your shoulders? And then check back next week, because we're going to use that information to make sure you pick the right pattern size!