Turquoise Bexley Tunic Top

Whilst waiting for my little boy to be born, way back in May, I occupied myself by sewing clothes for me to wear post-pregnancy. One of these is this beautiful turquoise tunic. 

The pattern is the Bexley Tunic from Issue 26 of Love Sewing Magazine. I wasn't that sold on the pattern to start with as it seemed a bit mumsy (ironic I know!) but I soon realised how useful this top would be post pregnancy. 

The fabric was once from my very small stash. I had previously blogged about this mystery turquoise fabric; one given to me by my Mum and another turquoise remnant I bought. 

I cut a size medium, based on my pregnancy bust size (I correctly assumed my increased bust size would still be around post-pregnancy). It was straight forward to construct, with a gathered front yoke and biased bound neckline, techniques which were not new to me. The fabric is quite delicate and did tend to fray quite a bit so I tried not to handle the pieces too much.  

The problem is, it's wayyy too big!!

I tried this top on whilst still pregnant and it fitted me then... I knew it was going to need some adjustment once I had slimmed down. There is a lot of room around the bust and hips.

Before

After fiddling around a bit with pinning and trying on, I had to take 3 inches from each side hem and taper this up to the arms. It has left the hem slightly twisted and a tuck in the back hem, as I had to ensure that the front and back hem met up.

After pinning

I do really like some of the features of this top- the curved front yoke and the curved back hem. It fits ok, however, I really don't like how short it is across the front and the volume around the front. I feel that this makes me look bigger than I actually am. I haven't actually worn this yet as I don't feel that confident when I put it on.

I have another version of this top planned in some chambray and blue stripey cotton I have left over. I'm going to have a go at removing the gathering at the front yoke and re-designing the front hem so that it is curved in the same way as the back. Wish me luck!!