Schoolhouse Rocks!

I was thrilled to be asked to sew up a pattern by the talented folks over at Sew Liberated. I had such a hard time deciding which one to review- so much cuteness available on their site! I can't wait to dedicate a little more time to sewing for myself and try out a few more of their ladies designs. <3 For now I give you the Schoolhouse tunic- which totally makes me think of the show "Schoolhouse Rocks" from my childhood- anyone else remember that??? I digress...

Well when I was first asked to review this pattern, I was like- "Sure I would love to- I will have TONS of time to sew once the kiddos are all back in school"... then we got the phone call- the "we want you to move across the country like next month" phone call- so needless to say life has been a little wacky these last few months. But I am determined to get this done before we move. Ha! (There might be packers busily boxing things in the background while I type!)

So on to the important stuff! The Schoolhouse Tunic Pattern  fits sizes 2 - 20 and is available in paper form from the Sew Liberated website. I will be honest- it has been a while since I have sewn up a paper pattern- I have been all about the instant satisfaction of downloading a PDF pattern these days, but I will admit I did not miss taping together all those pages it takes to sew up a ladies pattern! Ha!

The pattern includes excellent instructions for constructing in top or tunic length. I chose to do the tunic length in a mustard interweave chambray by Robert Kaufman that I picked up from the Bailey Girls Fabric Shop over on Etsy. I absolutely love this color for fall!

The tunic was a relatively easy sew- I should have paid a tad more attention to the recommended measurements... I chose to make my normal size without really double checking against my current measurements and it was a little snug around the bodice seam which I would have realized had I paid closer attention and sized up- but thankfully it is still wearable! A word to the wise- measure yourself ; )

I opted to do a simple hem on the sleeves although the pattern does give an option for an elastic sleeve. I think either option is super cute & had I sized up, I probably would have done the elastic on this one.

I paired the schoolhouse tunic with an ivory lace dress extender and boot cuffs from Grace & Lace. It added the length I needed to pull it off as a short dress- I am relatively tall at almost 5'10" so things tend to run a tad short on me. ; ) I also plan to pair with skinny jeans and boots for the fall!

The back has one simple pleat in the center and the bodice features two pleats making this a flattering shape for most body types. Have I mentioned how I wish there was an "iron" feature in photoshop ; )

A special thanks to my friend Amy over at Blink Life and Clothing for taking the pics for this review! Off to pack a few more boxes and prepare for the cross country journey- meanwhile you really should stop by the Sew Liberated page and pick up your own copy of the Schoolhouse Tunic! I promise you won't be disappointed!