Designer Stitch Julie and Alyse – Breaking Ground Blog Tour

When I signed up to join in on the Breaking Ground Blog Tour I was really excited. I had so many ideas that decision paralysis started to set in. But my first thought was that I have wanted to make myself a pair of fitted pants for a long time so all of those other ideas will be shelved for future Breaking Ground blog tours!

I already love Designer Stitch patterns and Ann thoroughly knows what she is doing and has great taste. When I mentioned that I would be blogging and what I was thinking of doing she steered me in this direction instead and I am so glad. She was emphatic that I should do the Alyse Taper Leg Pants and the Julie Blouse.

Part of what had held me back from making fitted pants is the commitment. Yes, commitment. Making pants requires 1 1/2 to 2 yards of fabric and I am very protective with my fabric stash so it has to be worth it. I have made leggings and loose linen pants but there is so much forgiveness in these types of bottoms.

Frosty wanted to get in on this shot 🙂

Another part was that I had put on about 30 pounds in the last 3 years and was having a hard time coming to terms with that. But I did a bunch of research and combined with what I knew already, I put a plan into action last December. As of now I am down 19 pounds and feel so much better. But it did make trying to decide on sizing a bit of an issue. Thanks to the amount of negative ease that is part of Ann’s formula for the Alyse pants, this ended up not being a problem at all.

In fact, I accidently cut out one size smaller than I measured for in these pants and didn’t even notice until they were completely assembled. I would not normally recommend doing this but the stretch twill I used has a lot of stretch, more than the pattern requires, so I am going to use this to my advantage as I am hoping that with my new lifestyle changes I will be at my goal weight soon. As is, though, they are so comfortable I can’t even describe it!

The pattern has cutting lines to make these into long shorts or 7/8 leg length pants and they have a side zip closure. I ended up adding 1″ to the length as these are drafted for 5’6″ and I am 5″8 and a bit. There is only one alteration I will make in the future. I have discovered I need more length in the back seat so I will be adding a wedge, as per Ann’s instructions to lengthen it by about 2 inches. But they are perfectly wearable as is. And they have real pockets! Are pants truly pants if they don’t have pockets?!?

I am really happy that I listened to Ann about the Julie Blouse. I haven’t made a blouse yet either so this is a double header for me. I was actually really nervous because I looked at the back yoke of the pattern and said there is no way this will fit me. Ask Ann! I was having in a serious panic over this. Ann is always so patient with me, though. I went ahead and made it up and somehow through her pattern making magic this blouse fits beautifully. I don’t know how she does it but I am so thankful for her expertise.

If you have read any of my other posts, you know I am a HUGE fan of layering and the Julie blouse is one more item that works perfectly for layering. I could have tacked the opening up but I prefer to wear a cami underneath. And since this is a sheer chiffon material, a cami is needed unless I am prepared to do one of those fancy European modeling photoshots which bare way more than I am going to let anyone see 😉

Thanks to Designer Stitch, I now have two new makes to add to my wardrobe. If you want to see reviews I have done from other Designer Stitch patterns, click here. And if you aren’t already a member of the Facebook Designer Stitch Pattern Support group, click and join so you can be in on all of the fun there! Ann has hinted that she will be doing some blog posts about getting great fitting pants so you won’t want to miss those when they go live and there is always lots of inspiration to be found there!

Thank you for joining me and I would love to know what your tips are for sewing during weight fluctuation.

And make sure to check out the other ladies participating in the Breaking Ground Blog Tour. Each link will go live the morning of the date they are scheduled for.

Monday, March 20th’s Bloggers: Anne-Mari Sews, Sewing By Ti, Musings of A Seamstress, Tenille’s Thread, Couturious, Embrace Everyday, Sewing A La Carte

Tuesday, March 21st’s Bloggers:

mahlicadesigns, Kaleidothought, Rhonda B Handmade, Elizabeth Made This

Wednesday March 22- Rainy Day Sewing, Anne-Mari Sews, Sprouting Jube Jube, Sewing A La Carte, Tales of a Tester

Thursday March 23- mahlicadesigns, Lulu & Celeste, Very Blissful, Sprouting Jube Jube, Rhonda B Handmade, Adventures with Bubba and Bug

Friday March 24- Anne-Mari Sews, Tales of a Tester, Sewing By Ti, Musings of A Seamstress, Harper + Lu, Sewing A La Carte

Disclaimer: I was provided these patterns for review for this tour but all opinions are my own. And the links in this post are affiliate links. If you do end up purchasing using these links, you will not be paying anymore but it will help to fund my sewing therapy. Anyone who sews knows how therapeutic sewing can be…hmmm, is there a relation between this fact and how many women sew?!?