Holiday Sewing with Itch to Stitch

All this week we have been following along with the Itch to Stitch Holiday Blog Tour! A month or so ago Leslie (Threadbear Garments) and Fleurine (Sew Mariefleur) reached out to us to see if we wanted to participate in a special holiday themed sewing tour. The answer was “Yes, of course!” and after talking thru some ideas we decided to sponsor the event along side Itch to Stitch patterns! We were getting ready to launch our holiday fabric collection and this partnership was not only perfect timing but also a great fit!

After helping some of the participants find fabrics for their holiday looks, it was time for me to pick something for my own look. One of my favorite new trends this fall is all of the amazing brocades! Elegant and sophisticated, it is amazing to see this traditional fabric show up in everything from dresses and skirts to pants and jackets. Looking through Kennis’ patterns I thought the Salamanca Cropped Jacket would be a great choice to pair with one of the brocades we have in ths shop. I went with a more modern choice, the triangle mosaic brocade— I love the colors, texture and design on this one and it is incredibly light weight!

My first hurdle with this jacket was the sizing. In looking at my measurements and the finished garment measurements I settled on making a size 6B. I first printed out a size 8B (my typical size) but the finished measurements just seemed too large so I stuck to my true measurements and went with the smaller size.

Cutting all the pieces out and getting everything ready to sew went really quickly. I settled on a soft rayon challis for the lining— solid black, something that wouldn’t compete with the brocade. I know it probably won’t be seen but just in case… Construction was also really straight forward with Kennis’ easy to follow instructions. I love how it all came together— beautifully faced and it didn’t require some of those fussy steps that a lined jacket can call for. Probably the most time consuming step was tacking the hem and sleeve facings in place, but this was a great project to finish up on the couch watching TV.

I really like how these two fabrics paired together for this jacket. Both are nice and light weight making the finished jackets not too bulky, heavy or warm. The brocade also played beautifully with the pleats and gathers, giving the jacket a wonderful shape and body. The fit is great, the sleeves could be a little wider at the elbow (a normal problem for me), but over all this was a great size choice. I also really like the length but for another version I might make it hip length.

For styling I headed to Pinterest for a few ideas. This jacket rides that line where it can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. Most of my holiday get togethers are more casual so I settled on pairing it with a pair of dark skinny jeans, a grey tank and fun necklace. I can definitely see pairing this jacket with black pants and maybe a sequin top for a little bit dressier look. Lots of options!

Hopefully you have enjoyed following along with us this week! If you missed one of the stops, links to each one are included at the bottom of this post for easy reference. There are so many great looks perfect for your next holiday party you are sure to find one that suits your style! I know I added a few more projects to my ever growing list…

To help get you started on your own look Itch to Stitch is offering 16% off all patterns with code HOLIDAY16, valid only thru December 12th! As a special holiday treat we are offering $5 shipping on all US orders and discounted international shipping. Any order, any size ships for just $5! Shop this week and have your fabric in time to sew for Christmas!

ITCH TO STITCH HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR 2016