Adorkable Aimee: Toddler T-Tunic Tutorial

Micah, the munchkin, and I had a wonderful weekend hiking, relaxing, and checking out the New York Renaissance Festival.

The munchkin needed an outfit for the Ren Faire, since the little kilt I made him last year was obviously way too small.

Here he is with Micah at the CT Ren Faire last October.

This time I made him a pair of wool leggings and a linen tunic. I think they came out pretty adorable, and he got lots of compliments during the faire.

So here is how I did it:

Materials- 1 yard of fabric in your main color (I used linen but any woven should work), 1/2 yard in contrast color, 2 yards of lacing, 12 grommets, coordinating thread.

1. Wash, dry, and iron! (in my haste I have forgotten this step... and while the outfit may be cute to start, once you then wash it, it is a disaster!)

2. Fold your main fabric in half, then in half again. Position the folds at the top right corner. Find a shirt that fits your LO well and use it as the guide. The tunic should have plenty of room so go out an inch or two, and make sure to leave room for seam allowances. I did wide fairly straight sleeves, and a bell shape to the body.

3. Cut out your tunic. When you cut out the neck- err on the side of being too small. You can fix too small easier than too big!

4. Unfold your tunic, now you get a good sense of the shape and where you are going to have to seam.

5. Using your tunic as a guide, lay the contract fabric under and outline the neck

6. Then draw and cut out the shape you want for the contrasting collar.

7. Lay the collar over the tunic and make a slit in the center down both fabrics- this is where you'll be putting the lacing later. My slit was about 6 inches.

8. This is the tedious part. Press a 1/4 inch hem on both fabrics, line them together, and pin pin pin!

ready to go sew! I, unfortunately, don't have any pics of the actual sewing because I left the camera in the dining room and knew if the munchkin saw me come out of the office, he'd never let me go back in ;)

9. Zig-zag stitch the collar to the tunic in a coordinating thread. The zig zag will help prevent fraying. I used a wide three step zig zag to give it a little decorative flair. Then pin right sides together and sew up your seams on both sides. I used my serger, but if you don't have a serger, a straight stitch followed by a zig zag will help prevent fraying. For the bottom hem and the cuffs of the sleeves, I serged the raw edges, folded a 1/2 inch hem and used the same decorative zig-zag.

10. Turn the tunic right side out and mark where your grommets will go. I did them a half inch from the edge and spaced 1 inch apart. You will have to decide what looks best based on the size of your tunic. A smaller tunic may need the grommets spaced a little closed to get the right look.