ETT — Finished

Here is the finished Empire Tank-Tunic. Mega apologies for the quality of the photos. It has been raining for days and days, and trying to take pictures inside my house is a big pain in the butt.Just not enough light.

So, here is the best I could do.

I only posted a back view to give an idea of the length and fit because....well, to be honest, before taking these photos I was already in sweats and done for the day, and was too lazy to put my bra back on. When I saw the front view shots, I went, "No fricken way am I posting those!" LOL This was taken out on our deck, and you can see it is still raining. I will post better front views later, but this is for Zom, who was wanting to see how this piece came out.

The skirt was sewn to the bodice with a double row of chain stitch. The bead colors are gun-metal gray and copper brown. I wanted to get away from always having the beads match the colors of the garment, and I took hints from some vintage clothing photos I saw on Pinterest. Only thing I would change on this piece, is I would make the bodice a bit smaller under the breasts. I left it a bit baggy, since I wanted to be able to wear shirts under it, like in the picture, but it's just a tad too wide and would look better tightened up.

So, that's it. The Empire Tank-Tunic. I will get better full length photos of the front of the piece when I can, and I have a few more "in process" photos that I would like to share as well.

And again, sincere apologies for the lousy light in the photos.

ETT — Update

After having put everything on hold for over a week while I recovered from The Crud, I have now gone back and done a bit of work on the Empire T-Tunic. I really like the color combination, and I have noticed that my embroidery stitching is getting better, and more uniform looking. Nice to know there is improvement there, as my hand stitching work is not all that great.

Here is the bodice cut out and sewn together. The necklace is one of mine, made from a vintage section of bracelet.

Here is the bodice with the black binding, sewn with embroidery thread. I picked a color of teal one shade lighter than the shirt, because I didn't think the dark teal would show up very well on the black. I think it was a wise decision, as the slightly lighter thread looks perfect.

Here is a close up of the stitching...and the necklace.

Next step is to add the black pleated skirt, and then to bead the binding. I don't think I'm going to put any applique or stenciling on the bodice. I kinda like it plain, and think the beading around the neckline, armholes, and where the skirt will be sewn on should be enough decoration for this piece.

Note: I have tried posting photos on the "Extra-Large" setting, but they bleed over into the blog sidebar and it looks sloppy. So, if you want to see a larger version of the photos, I'm afraid you'll have to click into each one. Sorry 'bout that.