Pattern: Gallery Tunic and Dress from Liesel & Co

Fabric: thrifted

I fell in love with this fabric when I first saw it.  I was going through a large bin at an estate sale, and the lady next to me pulled it out of her bin.  I’m pretty sure I held my breath until she put it down and I casually asked if it was hers before snatching it.  Looking at it, I saw either a men’s-wear inspired winter skirt or a tunic, and since I hardly ever wear skirts in the winter, I decided it needed to be a tunic.

It took me a long time to find the right pattern for it.  I’ve been keeping a running list of indie pattern companies as I hear about them and still couldn’t find it.  I was thinking that Grainline’s Archer shirt would be awesome in tunic length for this, but felt it might be too complicated for me at this time.  I almost shelved the fabric until I felt confident enough to tackle the Archer, but oddly enough, I was looking on Oliver & S for a pattern to use for the girls and I saw that they had adult patterns!  How did I not know this?  Anyway, I discovered the Gallery Tunic & Dress pattern, and decided it was perfect!

After reading a few reviews, I made a size 12 because my bust (38.25) fits solidly between the 10 and 12, but my waist (32) and hips (40) are between a 12 and 14.  All of the reviews I could find that mentioned fitting said to size for bust and not hips because of the style.  I also chose to leave the bust dart out.  I should have gone down to a 10 and will do that with my next one.

Overall, I’m happy with this make!  I’ve worn it a bunch this winter and am already plotting a couple warmer weather versions.