[Johanna]

I want to make the Gallery Tunic with a voile fabric. Since I am 5′ tall my length should be more like 21″. Is it possible to shorten a size 8 or 10 that much?

[Nicole]

Johanna, are you long in the body? If so ( like me) I can just lop off the hem. If you are short bodied you may want to shorten above the waist line.

[JohannaO]

Hi Johanna! (now that is fun)
I’m 5’2″. I made a straight 8 but took 1 1/2″ off the “shorten line”. I’m short in the torso, but long (for a petite) in the legs. I’m pretty average through my shoulders. I would say you may not want to take that much length out unless you would like it to be a blouse instead of a tunic. If that’s the case, then you would need to alter the hem a bit, as there is a good sized curve on each side of the curved hem. I would reduce the length between the hem dots and the bottom of the tunic, and then re-draw your curve if that’s the look you’re after.

[Johanna]

Thanks Nicole and JohannaO (good name). I’ll see what happens when I shorten some at the shorten line. Due to a pear shaped body I’m not always sure I want long shirts so this may not be the right pattern for me.

[Robin]

I’m chuckling to myself this morning Johannas. I saw the picture of JohannaO in the flickr group and thought the tunic was perfect, and wondered why she was asking for advice after the fact. Happy sewing Johanna!

[Johanna]

I’ll be JohannaH

[Nicole]

Me too, Robin. I clicked on the profile to double check. 🙂

[Robin]

JoannaH, I think if you can get a good fit in the shoulders, and have the tunic glide over the rest of your body, it will look great.