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delia creates

Green: Baby Tunic Top

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To me, green is the prettiest color. I love almost all it’s hues.

Today, my project is in mint.

In the form of this…

I first played around with making up this pattern before Natalie was born. It’s fun to see her wearing it now.

It’s pretty simple to make. With a short list of materials.

Materials:
2 fat quarters of a light weight material – I got my mint fat quarters at Joann (they don’t sell it by the bolt 馃檨 )
matching thread
12 inches of thin 1/8 inch elastic

First, make a pattern.

I started with a regular 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and cut it down like so.

Cut 2 inches off the long side. Then cut off a triangle piece 3 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches for the sleeves.

Scoop out the neck of the front piece.

***I wrote 3-6 months on the paper, but after having Natalie wear it, I really think it should be labeled just 3 months or maybe even 0-3 months. It probably won’t fit her as she nears the 6 month mark but fits her perfectly right now…and she’s 3 months***

Make a sleeve pattern. Start off with a 5 inch by 7 1/2 inch rectangle. Then curve it out about an inch each way so you end up with a sleeve about 4 inches long and 7 1/2 inches wide.

I discovered later that the outside curve is not really that necessary, but you can decide how you want to go about that.

Second, cut out and prep your fabric.

Make sure, wash and press it first.

Serge or zig zag the long edges of the sleeves and the top and bottom of the main tunic pieces.

Third, hem and attach the sleeves.

Hem the sleeves in about 1/2 an inch.

So you see how the outside curve of the sleeve becomes unnecessary?

Pin the sleeves right sides facing onto one of the main tunic pieces. You want the sleeve lined up with the neckline. The sleeve should not line up all the way to the arm pit…you’ll see why in a minute.

Sew or serge in place. I serged the sleeve to the top and then kept going to the end the arm pit.

Repeat for the other side.

So you get something like this.

Fourth, sew the tunic together.

Pin and sew up the sides.

Then sew around the under arm area.

This is tricky and takes patience, especially with such a small top. It helps to press the edge under with an iron first.

Press and hem the bottom, and create a casing for the neckline.

Leave a section open so that you can thread some elastic through.

I like to use a saftey pin for this.

Pull it until you get the amout of bunching you desire. I found about 10-11 inches of elastic to be just right.

Then zig-zag stitch the elastic together.

Sew the opening in the casing closed. Be sure to pull the shirt taut when you sew so you don’t sew it bunched up.

Add a tag.

And there you have it.

One cute, little baby, tunic top.

There aren’t any snaps, but the elastic neckline helps make the top fairly easy to put on and take off.

You can also add some elastic to the bottom of the sleeves if you don’t like the little angel wing poof.

You need the make the sleeve about an inch or so longer than the pattern.

When you hem the sleeve you are making a casing. Thread the elastic in and sew it in place with a line of stitching perpendicular to the hem.

When you get one sleeve how you like it, make sure the second sleeve matches up.

Then proceed with the tutorial…

I made this top a little bit wider than the mint version, so it looks a little more voluminous (which I don’t love but it was interesting to experiment with).

This could easily be made longer into a dress as well.

Maybe I’ll give it go but for the next size up!

If you are curious how the one I made for her before she was born turned out.

Pretty darn cute… which I was super happy about. It was a gamble making it before Natalie was actually here to try it on. It was made smaller though, so I hurried and snapped pictures of her in it over a month ago before she out grew it.

It’s incredible to see how much she has already grown and changed since then.

Thank you for reading! Have a happy Monday.

Say hi to Kirstin and Jordan at Kojodesigns. Rach H is sharing a one-handed sarong tutorial today. I’ve been waiting for this tutorial for a long time. So excited Rach put one together for us!

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Comments

  5. she looks so pretty in the mint green. and you may be able to alter that cute gray one. you could add a contrast color at the bottom and make it a longer tunic or even a dress.

    Reply

  7. Thank you!

    Asrid…I thought about that too but the neckline and sleeves are made smaller as well. 馃檨 The top is more newborn size.

    Good excuse to make another one! 馃檪

    Reply

  11. Yay!! I have been waiting for this tutorial since you first showed off the gray striped one before Nat was born! 馃檪 Now which of my fabrics to use… I'll be sure to post a pic in your new Flickr group. 馃檪

    Reply

  13. Yes, try elastic thread. I've made several of these style tops and dresses for my little girl (now 6 yrs) They wear so well. If you use the elastic thread you will never have to worry about the elastic biting into her skin. Also, when I make mine, I just use trapezoid shapes for the arms and bodices, no curves. I hem them before I sew the pieces together and this makes it so much easier.

    Reply

  18. Just made one of these today! Thanks so much for the easy-peasy top. My little 4-month old is going to get a TON of these for the summer. 馃檪 I'm loving this series, and I just love all your stuff. So thanks!

    Reply

  20. Thank's for tutorial. I made one to myself yesterday. It's not so cute like for your baby because it's big, but I had fan making it.

    Reply

  24. Do you remember how much wider you made the darker green one. It is more like what I am looking for so I am trying to adjust the pattern.

    And when you say you "make the sleeve about an inch or so longer than the pattern". How does that work exactly? Do you mean start the sleeve out with like 7"x6"?

    Thank you in advance!

    Reply