Another Museum Tunic: AKA One more thing that will make me look pregnant

First things first...

Listen up world: just because someone is chubby and/or wearing a garment with an empire-waist does not (I repeat NOT) make them pregnant.

I like to wear the empire-waist.

I do, so sue me.

I like the way it looks.

On every body.

Including mine.

I have been mistaken for a pregnant woman so many times that it is *almost* starting to not bother me, but do I stop making/wearing garments that totally make me look like I am pregnant?

No.

So I suppose I deserve what I get.

But, having gotten all of that off my chest...

I made another such garment today.

Let me rewind a bit.

This Sunday is my Bridal Shower.

See my pretty invitations*?
























With this important date coming up in just a coupla days, I knew I wanted to make (not buy) something special to wear.

I love my first Museum Tunic so much that when I visited my bestest bud Phiona at her shop in Burlington during my trip to Vermont a couple of weekends ago, I snagged some of the Square Dance in the Citrus colorway and a bit of the Pastry Stripe in Blue, as well.

I knew that this time I wanted the larger squares in the panel to be up near my face, because it looked so very nice on these two ladies, but unfortunately, that was not the way the fabric came off the bolt.

So, being the crafty gal that I am, I chopped off the top set of small squares and reattached them very carefully by trimming the bottom edges of each set of small squares to 1" and then re-sewing them with a 1/2" seam allowance.

That way when I reattached the set of small squares, it looked like four continuous rows that would make up the entire bottom portion of the dress.














































When that task was done, I had four new panels that looked like this:


















See?

You can't even tell that the bottom four squares in each panel are reattached, can you???

Since the Citrus colorway is so deliciously sheer, I did add a layer of white voile to my panels, but this was as easy as placing the voile on top of the dobby and didn't require any other special treatment.

As with my last Museum Tunic, I inserted a 6" rectangle of the Pastry line stripe (also lined in voile) down the middle, but other than that I stuck with Anna Maria's directions.

Here is what the fabric looked like this morning:























(Those bottom two fabrics are a future Birdie Sling and have nothing to do with my Museum Tunic, by the by...)

And here is what the fabrics looked like tonight when I was all done sewing the dress:



































































I have to admit that I am very excited for my shower...

Not only do I get presents, but I get the day off from the shop as well!

And hopefully no one will assume that I am pregnant.

My Grandma is going to be there and I would rather not be responsible for her having the Big One.

XO,

Rhea

*Thanks so much, Kristine, you know me the bestest and I love, love, LOVE these invites with the birds! Even though you thought your Maid-of-Honor days were over and you swore up and down that you would never be a bridesmaid again you have been such a good friend to me and I fully intend to leave you my collection of CD's, all of my scarves and back-issues of Country Living magazine in my will!