Butterick 6208 - A White PIntuck Tunic

I just love a white blouse and feel like it is a basic item needed for any closet but one was not found in my closet.  Time to take care of that situation and make a white blouse.  I wanted a twist on a wardrobe basic, a blouse with some visual interest.    First, I needed to find the right fabric for my blouse and went with Mood Fabrics' White Pinpoint Cotton Shirting.  The description states a good staple fabric with a bit of crispness.

    Now let's talk pattern, I went with Butterick 6208,  a loose fitting pullover tunic.   I went with this one as I loved the pintucks and the neckline.  One of the fabric recommendations is chambray and this fabric resembles the feel and weight of chambray.   The tunic runs long, I shortened it by 3 inches and stitched in a small side slit about 2 inches.  I was surprised on the length, I am tall and very rarely do I need to shorten anything.  On a tunic, it really is personal preference on a comfortable length.  I did cut the tunic per the pattern piece and adjusted the length after I had tried it on several times. This pattern had a very unique feature.  The front is not cut out all the way as you have a basic piece which has the pintuck markings.  After sewing the pintucks, Butterick has an upper front piece to use to cut the upper front.  To mark the pintucks, I used my ruler and measured the pintuck markings on the pattern piece.  It was easy to measure the distance from center front and then the measurement of the distance between pintucks.  I used my Frixion pen and ruler to draw these on the fabric adding a straight line across the front for the pintuck stop point.

My pintucks were very straight and even.

  The back of this tunic has nice gathers at the yoke and  waist.  Also included at the waist gathers is  long carrier in the back for the self-tie belt or a narrow belt of your choice.  This is a great feature in my opinion, after all how often does your belt slip down?

  Let's talk sleeves on this pattern, I had the great idea to use the sleeves and cuffs  from my Archer blouse on this tunic.  Wouldn't cuffs be great?  Especially in the winter, you could button those cuffs, keeping the sleeves in place with sweaters and coats.  I placed the sleeve pattern on top of the Butterick sleeve pattern and cut out the longer sleevve.  It all sounds good right?  Only one problem, I put the Archer sleeve on opposite of what it should have been!  My placket was in the front of my sleeve, right on top of my arm. Remember that fabric I cut off from the length?  Well,  I had just enough fabric from that  to fix my mistake and I added fabric cuffs to my tunic.  Talk about relieved, I knew this blouse was going to be a favorite and I wanted to find a solution. This fabric save was just enough to give me the length I needed for my sleeves and it looks like a design feature, right?  One thing about this pattern, the neckline is low, so I will always wear it with a camisole., which I find is really necessary with most white blouses.   Back to the neckline, it is beautifully drafted and has a nice placket behind the buttons for modesty.  I really liked everything about this pattern and my cotton shirting was the perfect fabric, a nice mix of a bit of body and drape.   If you want a different white fabric, I have this Mood Fabrics' cotton shirting and is is a bit more transparent but a great hand.  Mood Fabrics' has several great white  shirting options  and chambray would be another fabulous option.  You can make this pattern or your favorite shirt in many different options at Mood.

    I did include the sleeve tab on this blouse, so I can roll up the sleeves.  A feature which I think is a must on tunic styles

    As the temperatures fall, this might be the way the tunic will be worn - layered with a sweater

 One thing I learned about sewing with a fabric that is considered a wardrobe staple, you can use the staple fabric and really make a statement.  That is how I feel about this white cotton shirting tunic, it is a good basic for my wardrobe yet really takes a basic to the next level.   So don't forget those wardrobe basics, they really can be fun!

Disclosure - I receive a monthly fabric allowance from Mood Fabrics to make a garment.  These garment are blogged at Mood Sewing Network first and then I will blog here about this garment.