Charly Tunic- The Color Block Remix

I’ve always loved changing up patterns to give them a new, fresh look. An extra ruffle here or a little length there, just enough to change it up. Our tester Shae, from Saflower Photography, came up with a great way to add more fabrics to the simple skirt of our Charly Tunic. Color blocking is a great way to add variety and more fun trims, too! I’ll hand it over to Shae to show you how it’s done, and then you can head to our shop and get (through Sunday, November 13).

Hey everyone!! I’m Shae with and .

Ok, show of hands, who else loves the Charly pattern? I know I do!! My daughter has a nice little stash of them hanging up in her closet and she just loves them. I’m here to show you a fun little way to add some extra cuteness to the skirt. While my daughter loves the simplicity of Charly, I still like being able to play with different fabric combinations and adding a fun color block is a great way to sort of meld our styles. So let’s jump to it!!

Step 1. Complete the bodice as instructed in the pattern. I did end up making mine more of a ¾ sleeve because I live in San Diego and we don’t actually have long sleeve weather, but I still wanted the fall look.

Step 2. After you have decided on the fabric you want to use, take your skirt front and lay it out on the fabric that will be the largest piece. For mine it is the large scale floral. Ok, in the pattern it tells you to cut on the fold. Don’t do this! Instead, you are going add ½ inch for a seam allowance on the side that should be the fold.

Step 3. You are going to repeat this for the back skirt piece, but you will either need to use the wrong side of the fabric, or just flip the pattern piece over. The front and back need to be mirror images.

Step 4. Now take your front skirt pattern piece, and decide where you want the seam line for the other two fabric choices. Take your front piece and use a dark color marker and make your line. I used red for the sake of this tutorial.

Step 5. Take you back pattern piece and line it up with the front piece, along the edge (not the fold edge). Take the mark you made and make a mark at the same place on the back piece. This way your seam lines will line up with each other. You will also want to make the same line on the back of the front piece because when you cut them they need to be mirror images.

Step 6. Do not cut this line!! Instead, I find it easier to take your two fabrics and piece them together before you cut out the piece. Make sure they are big enough and don’t forget about the extra seam allowance. This is also the time to add trim if you choose. You should end up with two pieces like this.

Step 7. Take your front piece and line up your mark with the seam line and pin in place. This needs to be a mirror image of the front piece you already cut, so flip your pattern piece over. I only have a picture of the back piece, so that’s why the mark isn’t on the back of this one. Cut it out, including the ½ inch seam allowance along the fold line. Repeat for the back piece.

*tip: After you cut each piece out, place a pin or clip in the upper corner of the fold side so you know what edges get sewn together.

Step 8. Sew the two front pieces together and the two back pieces together.

Step 9. Now you have your full front and full back skirt pieces that are ready to be sewn together following the pattern. Finish your tunic and enjoy!!

Make sure you add your color blocked Charly Tunic photos to the . I can’t wait to see them!!