Made A Wadder

Well that brown undertunic fits nobody except me. And it’s not a long woman’s version but a short man’s one. So it has become a “wadder”. A reject. At least I know the measurements for when I finally get to do my own tunics. Meanwhile I’ve made another undertunic for The Ninja and got more fabric for his dad’s. Speaking of my handsome son, this is the guy who really encouraged him to become a ninja. Bill is his original teacher and former roommate. And yes he does own the black pajamas (actually called gi)! Truly! Darn, nobody ever believes me. Guess it’s because real ninjas don’t look like martial arts experts. Or turtles either. Heh.

So yesterday while everyone was hunting for wherever the Easter Bunny hid their eggs, I was busily finishing up TN’s undertunic and I think it looks quite elegant for a man’s dress:


The neckline is a bit of a squeeze to get over the head but as long as the stitches don’t pop, it’ll be ok. I did have to add another set of cuff extensions after I took this photo since I can't seem to get the sleeve lengths right. They're probably still too short! And here’s what both tunics look like together:


He will wear them belted over sweatpants (as a substitute for breeches). I really loved the fabric as I was working with it. A friend gave me a partial bolt of this natural oatmeal-coloured linen/rayon and it has wonderful weight and drape, presses perfect seams and generally is extremely cooperative fabric. I’ll be making my MIL’s undertunic, the baby’s tunic and coif, and my own undertunic (possibly dyed another colour, green maybe?) from this stuff and I still have quite a bit left for something else After The Wedding. I owe my friend a bunch of dye sessions in my dye studio for this for sure.

At my sister’s yesterday (where we had a lovely family dinner), I got a chance to pin up the hems on DIL’s tunics:


No, that crooked hem didn’t stay like that! We gave her a wee bit of a train in back but hopefully not enough to trip over. I have to say they look absolutely fabulous on her. At least the body fits her perfectly so my bad dream about that part didn’t come true. There was a however a slight glitch in the undertunic’s sleeves. She managed to get them on, but it took me and Daughter-The-Bride to get her out of them again! The process was made much more difficult by the fact that we were all laughing ourselves silly at the whole struggle and we were being called down for dinner at the same time. I’m thinking of cutting the cuffs right off and reattaching new slightly wider ones so she can actually escape her garb, especially if she has to breastfeed Stargazer during the festivities. I don’t understand it — there’s plenty of room for my hand to fit through! Though as DTB reminded me, I do have extremely small hands. Sigh. There’s never a garment that goes without a hitch. Not yet at least.

Today it’s hand-hemming both of DIL’s tunics, repairing the cuffs on the undertunic, and then on to Stargazer’s baby tunic with drawstring hem and coif. Hope I can gestimate the size without measurements. I just held him in my arms yesterday but no measuring tape handy at the time. And besides, I want this one to be a surprise for his parents.

Well, back to the salt mines…er, sewing machine.