Batik Top - fabric tells me what to do

Sometimes the fabric tells you what to do. Actually, many of the favorite things I've made have happened like this.

I was given this really interesting piece of batik from Southeast Asia (not sure the exact country). It is two panels like you see in the photo above ... not enough for a dress ... could be a skirt. But, I'm trying to make myself clothing I will ACTUALLY wear. 

It seems crazy to put a lot of time and effort on things that are only worn on special occasions. Although there is a time for that, too.

I got a free pattern from StyleArc when I bought the Sydney dress pattern. And I think it will work quite well for this fabric. There are not too many seams. I don't want to break up the print.

It is called the Hayward Tunic.

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BUT!!! there is a seam right up the center front. Hmmmmm.
​Now I can pin the pattern pieces together to eliminate that seam ...

But, when you do that the fold back facings completely overlap.
This where the fabric starts telling me what to do. First I only have so much fabric. When I pin these two pieces on the fabric it fits perfectly. There is not enough to cut them separately including those extended facings anyway.

My solution was to pin those pieces together and cut the left and right fronts as one piece, cutting away those extended facings (leaving a seam allowance, of course). So the front neck now looks like this.

Then I made separate pattern pieces for the left and right facings. They are a little different because of the asymmetrical pleat.

I placed the seam right were that dart is, thus eliminating it!

See below.

​Being short of fabric, I needed to use another fabric for these facings. Again the fabric is forcing my choices ... for the better! I just happened to have just the right amount of black cotton in my stash.

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But, as happens some times, things came out a little uneven after being sewn.

No worries ... just lay the paper pattern pieces one and even things up.

To tie things together better, I chose to us the black cotton on the back of the collar and the inside of the collar stand.

The collar on this tunic is just like a man's shirt collar. And, I've made a number of men's shirts having two sons and a husband. But, I can never trust myself to sew the entire thing by machine. I always hand slipstitch the inside of the collar stand.

Then machine stitch to make it look like I did it all by machine.

To keep up the black accents. I cut strips of what was left of that black cotton.

Fold it and add them to the sleeve band.

There really aren’t any instructions for hemming this thing ... just these words at the bottom of the pattern ... ha ha.

So I did what works best for me, which is running a stay stitch on the fold line for the hem and pressing it first.

So I can then do an even rolled hem at the machine.

I think this is a keeper ....

Thanks fabric for telling me what to do!