The Tunic Bible

19 Apr The James’ Tunic

Dear Readers, Life happens. (Birdie, Billy and James) Since I last published a post nearly two months ago, we welcomed Baby James into our family on March 1. Three days later a family member was diagnosed with an illness which has taken me away from home, as well as sewing for extended periods of time. My new embroidered tunic is in celebration of Baby James who will be here for Easter 😊 I purchased my fabric, a reversible rayon at the Children's Corner store in Nashville last year. This lovely store is loaded with beautiful fabrics ideal for both children and adults. After selecting my design...

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28 Jan Blackwood x2

Discovering a pattern that is just your style is pure gold. I have a few and have just added a new one to the collection. Winter just got a whole lot better 😉 After browsing through a stack of Christmas catalogs during the holidays, I was convinced I needed a pair of patterned leggings and ordered Mood Fabric's ultra soft black wool knit with orchid pink medallions. Opening the box of fabric long after the catalogs were thrown away brought me back to reality and I reassessed. The leggings would be cute if I was 10 or on a Scandinavian vacation...

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31 Dec It Was a Very Good Year……..

Several years ago I asked a woman at a tradeshow about when her business started to become successful. “When I decided to get serious about it." she replied. I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement with intention and commitment playing primary roles in our successes and failures, no matter how large or small the undertaking. While all years seem to have their share of ups and downs some are certainly better than others. Fortunately, things seemed to click this year. After taking time off to promote The Tunic Bible, a return to sewing and blogging in January was refreshing and relaxing. I...

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02 Dec The Holiday Tunic

From the moment I resumed sewing garments in 2011, I was obsessed with learning to sew the cute $$$ RTW tops I could never justify buying for myself. My second blog post was about recreating Milly peasant tops, and thus began my journey leading to The Tunic Bible. My first top, a silk peasant top looked quite homemade, but I was blinded by enthusiasm and after my investment of time and effort, I wore it with great pride. My mother bought the silk in Asia and I wanted to please her as much as myself. Six years later I see the progress I've made...

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27 Aug Black White and Cherry!

I've never been able to adopt the 'keep it simple' philosophy, but I do believe in the 'one step at a time' approach to life. In sewing that means sticking to the familiar while learning the new. While I try to grasp the details of machine embroidery I'm sewing with patterns and fabrics that leave no surprises. Mood Fabrics offers a fabulous collection of cotton shirtings, and what better backdrop for cherry red than a black and white check! I knew this smooth shirting fabric with a soft drape would be perfect for a tunic and kept my fingers crossed that it would be...

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01 Jul New Lilly Inspired Dress and Contest Winner!

Lilly Pulitzer introduced a fabulous collection of navy dresses this season, and I wanted one too. The Lilly dresses are available in every fabric imaginable bringing about many possibilities. My decision was based on the piece of  Theory Navy Cotton Rib Knit  I ordered from Mood Fabrics in March. (Now sold out but I highly recommend the navy stretch pique.) While Lilly refers to many of its dresses as 'shift dresses', they look like tunics to me, and so I made a tunic from The Tunic Bible. Since this is at least the 40th tunic I've made during the last two years, I...

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12 Jun Tunic x Nine !

Greetings! I'd like to introduce you to a reader who made my day. Meet Marion, a fellow tunic lover from Germany. Marion bought The Tunic Bible in February and has showcased our concept of one pattern unlimited possibilities so beautifully that I must share. After reading Marion's initial email, I requested photos of her tunics. She surprised me with not one or two or three….. but nine tunics she’s created this Spring using the master pattern! Let's look...

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05 Mar 3 Dresses 3 Fits 3 Looks

Maybe you go through color phases like I do.  I don't know where they come. Two years ago I was all about orange but lately I've been partial to blue and green. Recently, the delightful fabric designer Jennifer Paganelli sent Julie and me selections from her Hotel Frederiksted collection. We each made a tunic for one of our book signings at Quiltcon in Savannah last week.  The fabrics are quilting cotton which isn't always recognized as garment friendly, but one can have fun with the great prints found in quilting cotton, and create cute casual garments! Here's mine. I decided to make a...

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