Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Merino Halifane Tunic

After the success of my Lane Raglan tunic hack, I decided to tackle a project that I've had in mind for a few months. I'm not sure how I got on the mailing list for Prana, but basically I want all their clothes and to do yoga on a mountain every day. In particular, I loved this raglan dress with a funnel neck:


The style lines aren't too complicated, and I decided I would try mashing up the Lane Raglan and the funnel neck from the Halifax Hoodie, then lengthen it into a tunic. I'm calling it a Halifane because obviously it has to have a name. After asking for some feedback in the Hey June Facebook group, it was suggested to me to use my regular size Lane (small) and a size up for the Halifax funnel neck (medium). This is exactly what I did and the results were amazing!


I considered adding a drawstring, but as I've mentioned before, they don't mix well with handsy kids. Mine is also more of a tunic than a dress, like my inspiration. To add the length, I again moved my pattern piece down 4" and out an inch or two (as detailed in this post).


One other change I made to standard sewing procedure is that I sewed everything with a 3/8" seam allowance. The Lane is drafted with a 1/4" and the Halifax with a 3/8". I was sewing most of this in the evening and I basically just forgot to pay attention to what I was doing (which is why I hardly ever sew after dinner).

I swear I pressed the hem

Now about this fabric! It's a wool knit from Mood, and I purchased it FIVE years ago. For shame. It's the first cut of wool fabric I ever bought. At the time, I thought it was a bit too itchy to use against the skin, and I had plans to make a fully lined wrap dress with it. Fast forward to now, I've become way more comfortable using, wearing, and hand washing wool. I hand washed this yardage and conditioned it the same way I do my other wool garments. After conditioning (yes, just like you would condition your own hair after shampooing) the fabric became soft and not at all scratchy. It's a medium weight and soooooo snuggly with this funnel neck.


And yes, I am aware that my entire wardrobe is black and grey. I'm working on it. Forgive me? I mean, I went outside in a 22 degree wind chill just to take these photos for you.

My cold weather face

I have enough fabric left to make a tank top or maybe even a tshirt. I'm thrilled I finally used one of the oldest pieces of fabric in my stash, and that it was worth the wait!


If you're looking for a hawwwt deal in this cold weather, check out the current sale on A Sewist's Notebook! Save 20% AND get FREE shipping! Use code SHIPSAVE20 at checkout. Hurry, ends Thursday, the 25th at midnight! Read all about these great planners here.

2 comments:

  1. Nothing wrong with black and gray ;-)
    I love what you did - and kudos for using that aged fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a fantastic knock off! Better than a knock off really seeing as you used better fabric. I love that about sewing!

    ReplyDelete

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