It’s Time to Sew with an Itch to Stitch Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the “ITS Time to Sew” Blog Tour. The idea behind this tour is to sew up an Itch to Stitch pattern that I have been “itching to stitch.” Easy enough, right? I knew immediately what I would sew – the Mountain View Pull On Jeans. I bought this pattern the day that it released and have wanted to carve out some time to make them ever since. I am so glad that I finally got around to making them!

Do you see a problem with my JEANS? Well, they are SHORTS!

I live in Texas, and to be frank, fall doesn’t even begin to tempt us until November. Even in November, we are still in the upper 60s and low 70s. Well, it is mid-September now and am not quite ready to start my fall sewing. In fact, it was 94 degrees outside the day I took these photos and 98 today. So, let’s just say that I took the blog tour theme literally, and I sewed exactly what I am itching to wear – a tank top and jean shorts.

Maybe you will appreciate my post if you live somewhere that is still warm or you live in the Southern Hemisphere and are getting into spring.  Even if you are sewing for cold weather, you also may really appreciate this post because it includes a GIVEAWAY and a SALE!

The Tank

The tank top that I made is Itch to Stitch’s FREE Lago tank (available here). I made four Lagos when the pattern first released, and I seriously wear them all the time. I even wore them through the first and second trimesters of my pregnancy last year. I have been wanting to make another one all summer long, especially to replace the ones that are stretched out from pregnancy. The awesome thing about tank tops is that they also work beautifully under a cardigan so I am kind of sewing fall, right?

For this top, Raspberry Creek Fabrics sent me this super soft Art Gallery Fabrics knit cotton lycra. I love how quickly they ship and the great quality of fabric that they stock. They also sent me a very nice quality stretch denim that was perfect for my shorts.

The Jean Shorts

Now, let’s talk about my shorts. It is very easy to make the Mountain View Pull On Jeans into shorts. Sewing shorts first is also a great way to check fit issues before sewing the entire pant. These shorts also came together rather quickly!

My shorts have a 5.75 inch finished inseam. To get this length, I cut the pattern piece straight across at 7.75 inches down from the inseam. Next, I placed a mark 1.5 inches above the bottom of my shorts on both my inseam and outseam and angled (slightly flared) out my seam line until I got to the hem. This makes it so that the shorts were not tighter at the hem. I also, serged each side of the seam separately and pressed my seam flat. To hem, I pressed up .75 inches towards the main, and then another .75 inches. I only secured my hem at the seams, which is the ousteam, inseam, and back of the shorts.

Adjustments

My measurements put me in a size 0 for waist and a size 2 for hips. I cut out all my pants pieces as a 2 and then graded the top of the waistband to a 0. When I went to try my waistband on  before attaching it to my pants (which is always a good idea!), I barely could get it over my hips. Once I wiggled all around and got that tight sucker on, I had some major muffin top. So, I un-graded that seam back to a complete 2, tried it on, and it was perfect. Whew! My pants fit great without the grading.

Let’s talk pockets. Have you seen all the butt comparison posts on Pinterest that show where the most flattering place is to place the pockets? Not too far apart, not too low, not too high… There really is a sweet spot for pockets to rest to keep your backside looking good. Well, after several rounds of pinning them on and having my husband take a photo of my butt, I think I found exactly where I wanted the pockets. I shaved 1/4 inch off the bottom right of the pocket. I raised them and brought them in a bit.

I used the pocket stitching guides from the Sew A Little Seam Linden Shorts (blogged about here). I found it hard to trace them right onto the pocket so I just put them on top of the pocket and sewed over them, which means that I had to print 2 mirror pocket templates because when I finished topstitching one pocket, I just ripped the paper off and threw it away.

What do you think of my pocket placement?

I really love the fit of these shorts. They suck me in some but are absolutely comfortable to wear. I really can’t wait until we have cold enough weather for me to make jeans! Maybe next month I will be able to wrap my head around Fall, and then, I will be sewing full length Mountain View Pants!

Resources

Shorts Pattern: Mountain View Pull On Jeans.

Shorts Fabric: I used the medium indigo medium weight denim from Raspberry Creek.

Topstitching Thread: Gutermann Mara 100, Color 444 (a shade of brown) can be found here. I used a stitch length of 3.5 when I topstitched.

Top Pattern: The Lago Tank and its FREE!
Top Fabric: Bari J for Art Gallery Knit Cotton Lycra La Floraison.