I sewed the Evie Tunic from Sonia Estep Designs as part of my Make 9 garments. I actually added this as project at the last minute, owing to the polar vortex arrival. I had this organic cotton sweatshirt fleece from my LFS, Seams Fabric (online too!) This is my sewing pattern review of the Evie Tunic.
The pattern is a PDF digital download and comes in A0, and several formats of letter tiled – including the edge 2 edge version I used. I used view B, the turtleneck with the longer squared off hem, and used a size 16 (I measured in at a 14 but wasn’t sure of how this brand fits since it was my first pattern sewn up.) I could have gone down to a 14 and been just fine. My family will toss this in the dryer a bunch of times so I am sure that I’ll have enough room in it to sustain several washing/drying cycles.
The pattern comes together really easily, and it’s definitely a beginner friendly one. The organic cotton I chose had a little bit of lycra in it but it is a more stable knit and hemmed really easily. I just turned to the wrong side, pressed and topstitched.
The front has overlapping panels that come down below belly button – but be SURE to check the lengthen/shorten above the waist – I had to shorten 4″ there (above the waist) and another 2″ at the hems to get the right size for me (I am 5’3″). I mostly modeled it after where I saw the pattern model hem ended (and the waist is marked on the pattern for that adjustment.)
The pattern is very straightforward, but I modified how I sewed the lower hems. They have you sew the hems before sideseams (the view A has very curved hems so this is easier to do when the garment is not sewn together). This would leave you with matching up the finished edges and then pressing and possibly sewing/over your existing seam to secure these finished hemmed edges.
However, on this more straight version, I ended up overlapping the hem, flipping it first to the back, stitching across and then flipping it to the front and then sewing the front edge hem. The inner folds didn’t match up, but who’s looking at my lower calves up close? Nobody. Also it’s on the inside!
Styling the Evie tunic:
The Evie is shown both with leggings (below) and with wide leg pants (on the website) and I think both look fabulous with this pattern. My inspiration was the Pinterest photo below, worn over wide leg pants. My other Make Nine patterns include two pair of wide leg pants, so I’ll be recreating the look with these images once I’ve sewn the other pants! I also have wide leg jeans and many pairs of leggings to wear this tunic with.
The pattern itself was on flash sale (one day) and is normally under their Patreon subscription – check back with them as they host sales often of single patterns. Or you can get the Patreon subscription and get even more patterns from them for your $14/month subscription. I am generally not in favor of subscriptions so I like to sign up for a month, get what I want right away.
This was easy to sew and very satisfying. I show a quiet pic of my sewing machine in the morning, with my coffee – it was so easy I could have finished it the night before but I SAVED the rest to sew with my morning coffee! What a joy! I’ll be wearing this all winter long, it’s cozy and with the dressier pants/shoes/accessories, very stylish, or with soft track pants and fluffy socks, very comfy lounge – you decide! From the waist up, it’s a turtleneck – so Zoom calls should be great for work too.