The Alder as a Tunic or Shirt

Around this time of year we get a lot of emails enquiring how to convert the Archer into a sleeveless shirt. We have a tutorial here but one thing to note is that since the Archer is both slightly oversized and drafted for sleeves, it will never be fitted in the armholes the same way the Alder is without some major drafting adjustments. The Alder on the other hand is very easy to turn into a sleeveless tunic or shirt just by shortening the pattern pieces! I just made the one above this week in this Art Gallery denim (Puzzle Sandblast) by shortening View A so that the front button band measures 26" - which ends up being tunic length. I'm reposting our original tutorial from a few years ago on shortening the Alder below. Have you tried it?

Start by deciding how long you want the shirt to be. If you've made the dress already it's really easy to just try the dress on and mark where you'd like the shirt to hit. If you haven't I recommend measuring starting from the hollow of your throat down to where you'd like the shirt to hit since that measurement corresponds with the center front of the dress fronts. Once you know how long you'd like the dress, mark the new hem length on the front of the dress. Measure up evenly across the bottom of all of the dress pieces to mark the new hem. Make sure you remember to leave enough for the hem.

All of the construction is the same as the original dress for this version so you can either follow the instructions in the booklet or follow along with the sew along here on the blog.