Finished: Placement Print Tunic from Thakoon Silk

Inspiration: Boldly printed silk shirts by Erdem, Just Cavalli and Etro. Available at Net-a-Porter.

What is it about the warmer weather that makes me go a little cray-cray over prints? Once the temperature gets above 60 degrees I shed my blacks and neutrals and flock to bold prints and colors. This is bound to have something to do with spending my formative years in color-saturated, perpetually warm places like Los Angeles, New Orleans and Dallas.

So when we got in these gorgeous Thakoon silk prints at Mood Fabrics, of course I had to nab some for myself. I went to Style.com and took a look at how the designer himself used these prints in his spring 2012 collection, and really liked his shirts and the way he mixed prints and colorways. Blatant rip-off time!

The gold colorway is a luscious, 4-ply silk crepe, and the black colorway is silk crepe de chine. Both are still available at MoodFabrics.com, but don’t wait long to order as our stock is getting low.

I made this shirt from a circa 1980’s Simplicity pattern I bought on Etsy, combining the long and short versions to make my bi-level top. It’s blousy and tunic-y, which is the easy summer look I was going for. Plus, a loose fit means fitting time can be minimized. I’m a sew-and-go kind of girl these days!

Construction was easy and straightforward. Where I spent the most time was in determining print placement. You can see with big paisleys like these that it’s gonna make a difference where you place your pattern. I relied heavily on fashion images showing how Thakoon placed the prints himself.

Bottom line: I like this top/tunic. It’s a really bold print for me but it works well with jeans and heels. More silk tops to come!