Ruffles and Jeggings

I don't do ruffles much, and I've never done jeggings (jeans + leggings), but here they are. I was immediately drawn to the intriguing ruffle-y neckline when I saw it. And the tunic length clearly needs to be paired with leggings, which apparently was a big, gaping hole in my wardrobe. They're quite the opposite of bell-bottoms, eh?

I'm glad I had done a v-neck before (using Jalie's helpful illustrated instructions), or this ruffly version would have been tricky. In the above photo you have a good view of the interesting raw edge finishing. The outer edge of the ruffle is raw, and so are the armholes. They are stabilized with a self-fabric bias binding which is sewn on the inside.

I love how the neck turned out. The pieces are cut as spirals so that, when straightened, the outside edge ripples.

The big question is the length. Even though the magazine's modeled photo does show it this long, I somewhat illogically thought it'd be shorter on me.

The pattern is Tunic C from this Japanese book which, translated, is titled something like "My Clothes Sewing: Always Wear, Many Times". It is by Mizuno Yoshiko. ISBN 4529048543.

The fabric I used is cotton interlock from Chez Ami. Interlock may be too heavy for summer, but I thought I needed something with weight to hold the shape of the ruffles. I have no idea what fabric the pattern called for, but it does look like it could be interlock knit.

The illustrations are numbered step-by-step and give a pretty good idea of the finishing techniques.

The leggings are super comfortable. I was glad to be able to use up this ultra thin and stretchy denim since it wouldn't have worked for regular jeans.

The pattern came from this book: "Natural and Layered Style", a Pochee Special in the Heartwarming Life Series (ISBN 452904791). The book was a gift from the creative and very funny Sigrid of Analog Me. Thanks, Sigrid! The book is full of lovely girls' and womens' clothes and little did I know the first thing I'd make would be simple leggings.

Here you can see the modeled photo and the pictorial instructions.

Now, the question for you, dear readers. I've tried to demonstrate the tunic in a couple of different lengths, besides the almost dress length it's at right now.

Should I:

1. Leave it as is, worn with leggings.

2. Shorten it to a more common tunic length (above photo).

3. Shorten it to long top length (photo below).

4. Wear it as a dress (i.e. with sandals).

5. Other.