I attempted to make myself a Twinkle Sews Magic Tunic. Wenlan Chia’s version in her book is beautiful.

I happened to have 4 yards of beautiful mustard colored crepe suiting in my stash. It has a wonderful feel and drape. I knew this pattern would be a challenge. What I didn’t know is that I would be completely lost throughout most of the construction of this garment. Before this project I considered myself an advanced beginner or maybe even an intermediate sewer. Now I am not so sure. I don’t blame the designer. Not at all. The instructions are probably well written for an experienced seamstress. However, I need to see step-by-step graphics. I also would prefer pre-printed patterns instead of DIY printing on 8.5″ by 11″ paper. My printer refused to print the entire image on each sheet. It was off by less than a centimeter. But in pattern printing that could make or break the final project once all sheets are taped together! Or, maybe all I needed was a little sewing fairy magic. So, here is a picture of the almost finished project on my new dress form.

Front

Back
The sleeve openings are not finished. I don’t plan to finish them and I don’t plan to wear it. It was a good learning experience and is headed to the scrap pile. Oh well. On to my next project…a Little House on the Prairie birthday dress circa 1971 for Mira.
There has been lots of Valentine’s and Birthday preparations going on around here. For the school Valentines Mira drew one card with a black crayon. I then photocopied it 25 times. She is now in the process of coloring and customizing each card before the big day.

Also, in keeping with the Valentine’s theme we made magical melted crayon hearts for Mira to give away as her birthday gift to her classmates this year. These are all made from broken crayons we had in the house! So it is a no cost gift!



































