Project Run and Play: Girls Bubble Tunic Sewing Tutorial

Hi everyone! I'm Terra and I blog over at mama says sew. I'm excited to be here at Project Run and Play today!

One thing I love about making children's clothes is that kids can totally pull off things that I never could. Take this Bubble Tunic for example. Me wearing something like this would be a really, really Bad Idea. I'd look like a giant blue pumpkin. But I think it looks really cute on my daughter.

I came up with the idea for this tunic while I was toying with the idea of making a bubble dress. Somewhere in my mental ramblings, I came up with the idea to shorten it into a tunic.

I felt like it was missing something, so I added a bow belt. The idea came from this tutorial. I made mine with snaps as in the tutorial, but I think I'll switch and use a button. The snap kept popping open every time she bent over. She loved the bow though, so every time that happened, she'd bring it over to me to put back on. The tutorial for her shorts is here.

Here's the only straight-on shot I got. This little girlie thinks every time I get the camera out means it's time to run. I still don't know how I managed this one.

I used about 1 1/2 yards of fabric, but I was careful about cutting.

Start by cutting out the bodice. You can use any bodice pattern; I used the bodice from the Spania Dress. {Disclaimer: I draw patterns by hand, so keep in mind they are far from perfect.} Cut a lining piece and a fabric piece for each piece of your bodice pattern. Here are mine, folded in half:

Open up one of your bodice pieces and cut two lining pieces for the skirt. They should be slightly wider than the bodice.

Cut out the outer skirt pieces. I made mine about 2.5 times as wide as the lining piece, and a couple of inches longer.

Time to start sewing! Sew the lining and the fabric pieces right sides together. I attempted to show you where to sew with the red lines. Use a narrow seam allowance.

If you're using the key hole back, insert the elastic in between the two pieces of fabric before you sew. Then when you sew the back pieces together, you'll cover up the raw edges of the elastic.

Clip your curves and corners.

Turn the bodice pieces right side out and press.

Sew the bodice right sides together at shoulders and side seams. Set the bodice aside.

Sew the skirt lining pieces right sides together up the side seams. Do the same for the skirt pieces.

Gather the skirt piece so that it's the same width as the lining.

Insert the lining right side out into the skirt. Sew the lining and the skirt together along the gathered edge.

Turn the skirt right side out and press along the seam. It should look like this:

Gather the top of the skirt together so that it is also the same width as the lining.

Insert the bubble skirt into the bodice, right sides together. Make sure all your edges are even. Sew the skirt to the bodice. You'll be sewing through four layers, so I used a larger than normal seam allowance to make sure I didn't miss any layers.

Trim all those bulky layers close to the seam.

Turn the tunic the right way and press.

Sew on the button. Funny story: I bought a pant suit set for the buttons at a thrift store {it was a quarter}. The cashier commented it was a cute set. I didn't know what to say, but what I was thinking was something along the lines of "Actually, I have absolutely no intention of wearing this. I just like the buttons."