Reviewed: Tuniques pour petits et grands

Yes. This top is in adult and kiddie sizes.

Title: Tuniques pour petits et grands

Authors: Cecile de Chatillon, Maude Paray and Pauline de Saint Lager.

Publisher: Hachette Pratique.

ISBN: 9782012301832

Language: French. Which means you can scan + rasterise/ type the instructions into Google for FUN and edification (read: entertainment/ a steady descent into madness depending on your personality type and mood).

First thoughts – Its a French, Japanese sewing book. It is not a translation of a pre-existing Japanese sewing book into French (the French totally lead the whole cool Japanese sewing books in a language you can understand, trend – by about 3 years). It is a sewing book, by French authors that seems to follow the Japanese aesthetic (which is weird because that aesthetic is usually French-inspired). The coolest thing? It has ladies patterns, little girl patterns and little boy patterns!

Translation: clueless, intermediate and “You fool! I do not need patterns to make these simple garments! A child could cut them out free hand!” (pepe le pew voice).

On to the actual review – There are 17 patterns for tunics/ dresses/ tops in various sizes. 12 of these are for women and 7 for children (no, it doesn’t add up – some of the patterns are in adult and child sizes).

So traumatised was Monique by maman’s matchy-matchy outfit and hideous boots that she pledged to desert the bourgeoisie tout de suite.

Apart from two of the patterns which are frilly/smocked all the rest of the children’s patterns could be used for both boys and girls. The sizing is as below:

Sizing guide and sample pattern sheet (the latter is a welcome change from the average pattern magazine pattern sheets)

Sizing guide and sample pattern sheet (the latter is a welcome change from the mind-boggling procrastination-fodder that is the average pattern-magazine pattern sheet).

This worries me a bit because, as a Tuniques size 36 small, any outfit I make from these patterns will be at least 8 cm too large everywhere (because the same size is used for the next size up, 38 – and all their sizes are 2 measurement sizes per pattern size to begin with!). I’m currently testing that theory with tunique K, aka Flashy (their words not mine).

Stand out patterns:

The ultimate in feminist irony, twirling a pair of heels whilst wearing work boots..

The ultimate in hipster irony, twirling a pair of heels whilst wearing work boots.. Also, not facing the camera and putting birds on things.

Pros

Given the sh*tload of patterns it contains for both adults and children this book is good value for money.
The sizing is European, so if you love Japanese style patterns but feel other wise about Japanese pattern sizing then book is for you.
The styles are more fitted than is normal for Japanese books, yet simple enough to alter/ modify/ create your own variations.

Cons

The sizing issue mentioned above – each pattern size actually covers two measured sizes; I am not a fan of this style of laziness adaptation. It’ll probably be less noticeable if you are in the upper end of the measurements for each size. If not, the fit will be looser everywhere. I’m actually sewing up one of the patterns at the moment ~~so I’ll know soon enough if this is actually the case~~ f*&$@*% s&*$# it’s a ~~mu mu~~ sack… Somewhere out there there’s a Burdastyle designer laughing their @$$ off (while simultaneously stroking a long haired Persian) mwahahaha and you thought you could evade the sack by avoiding Burdastyle…

And by long haired Persian, I mean this kind.

Not this kind.

That’s right. Shahs of Sunset – Blame Stephen Colbert. This fulfils my yearly quota of trashy stuff. And no, I have no idea why there are adults (with clothes on) in what is clearly a wading pool. With a pig in it. This is why I don’t own a TV, the surrealism of modern-day ‘entertainment’ is beyond my comprehension.

Other cons (yes, we’re back to the Tuniques book now) – the boots. For crying out loud, UGGs are bedroom slippers (or room shoes as the more civilised among us prefer to call them). They do not ‘go well with’ anything (apart from saggy-ass pyjama bottoms, but if you’re wearing those outside the house then you’re obviously truly liberated from the constraints of society and therefore, functioning at a metaphysical level far beyond what this blog is capable of providing).

Asides:

There are two other books available by the same authors on Amazon.uk and Amazon.fr: Dressing Chic (ISBN: 9782012303218, 4.5 stars on .fr) and Basiques d’été (ISBN: 9782012301825, 4 stars on .fr).
This is totally unrelated to the book (or even sewing in general) – while Google-ing images of Dr. Evil stroking a long haired cat, I came across this: