Itch to Stitch: Emily Culottes, Blog Tour and Giveaway

Hi all,

For the second time I had the opportunity to test a pattern for Itch to Stitch. This time it was the Emily Culottes and I enjoyed the process and the finished garment as much as last time.

The pattern has different options:

• pleated or unpleated front
• waist tabs or waist tie
• lined or unlined
• slanted welt pockets or patch pockets
• shorten or lengthen line

I made a lined version with unpleated front, waist tie and patch pockets. The length is the original length of the pattern.

Fabric:

Do you recognize the fabric? It is the same I used fo the Marfy blouse (no, I won’t wear both pieces together…). It is a lightweight cotton. Due to fabric shortage I skipped any attempt of pattern matching, but I think it is ok with this print. First I did not want to line the culottes, but the fabric was too sheer, so I used a white cotton batiste as lining.

Alterations:

I cut a size 2 according to my measurements. The fit was spot on. The only alteration I had to do was to tweak the center back a bit due to my swayback. I took out 1 cm at each side in the center back at the bottom of the waist band and the top of the back.

Construction Notes:

The instructions were easy to follow. Kennis from Itch to Stitch really takes your hand and explains everything very clear and detailed. While still struggling with the lining of my Marfy jacket and not really knowing what I do, I was so happy to have this break and the straightforward sewing of the culottes. I even managed to sew in the lining by machine. Usually I do this by hand (a process that I really love) but for the testing I followed strictly the instructions and it never hurts to learn a new technique, right?

You can see how the seam allowance gets wider where the center back meets the waistband. This is what I took out (I did not grade the seam allowance afterwards….).

Below is a detail shot of the patch pocket. I found this cute buttons with flowers:

The hem is just folded over and machine sewn in place. The instructions tell you to do a blind hem which I skipped because my fabric is rather thin.

The lining is tacked to the outer fabric at the side seams and inseams to avoid any twisting. As you can see, I finished all the seam allowances with the serger.

Conclusion:

This is a straightforward and versatile pattern. Unfortunately it is still too cold to wear my new culottes. I have already cut out a long version with the welt pocket and waist tab option. I plan to use some piping, too. You can see some other tester versions here:

Jordan from  http://goddessofsewing.blogspot.com
Jessie from http://jesssewfabulous.wordpress.com
Stacey  http://allsewnupbystacey.blogspot.co.uk

And now for the fun part:

The pattern is currently on sale and in addition to that you also have the chance to win a pattern here: a Rafflecopter giveaway.

Happy sewing!