Mar 24, 2015

My Urban Tunic in Crossroads Denim and a Pattern Giveaway!

Today, we are part of the Indigo Junction Crossroads Blog Tour. The tour is highlighting Amy Barickman’s gorgeous line of denim, called Crossroads, and has a line up of very talented bloggers creating amazing projects over a 2 week schedule.

If you are new to SHWS – Welcome!

If you are a regular follower of our blog, you are probably a bit surprised that I am stepping out of my comfort zone of quilting on into the world of sewing clothes. Well, me too, but, there are so many new fabrics coming onto the market lately, that I have been tempted to try sewing clothes for myself. Past attempts have not been pretty, but I keep thinking that all this quilting knowledge has to account for something, right?

So, while at Quiltcon a few weeks ago, I spent some time in the Indigo Junction booth oogling over the great designs and debating whether I should give it another try. Before I knew it, I was getting a pep talk from two of the Indigo Junction gals on how I could totally do this! I left with their book, The Magic Pattern Book and thier Urban Tunic pattern. I came home determined to do this, and do this right, and wear what I made, with pride.

As soon as I arrived home, I received an email from Indigo Junction inviting me to participate in their Crossroads Blog Tour introducing the gorgeous new colors.

Ok, if I’m going to do this, I may as well dive in and do it with an entire blog tour and put my results out there to the blogosphere. Talk about motivation to finish a project! So I chose the prettiest color ever – Cactus Flower, and committed myself to participate in the Tour.

Then the panic set in. Oh my gosh. What did I get myself into? Patterns? Waist measurements? Take a deep breath and think positive, girl. You were going to make it anyway, right?

Once I got started, it all fell in to place. The denim washed lovely and was so soft and nice to work with. It ironed like a dream. Stitching through the denim was effortless, or as SNL’s Mike Myers would say in his Coffee Talk skits, “like buttah”.

Ok, I obviously didn’t think to buy thread to match the fabric. That is not something I worry so much about when piecing 9 patches.

Following the pattern was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I had my tunic constructed in no time at all. As I worked with it, I kept thinking of all the other things I could make with this fabric. It is such a great weight and has so many tempting colors.

Love the way the armholes fell into place. I have to say, I was a bit nervous. I have not had the best of luck with that on past projects. And the pockets? Those were downright fun to make! The only tweak I needed to make was to shorten the length to be able to wear it with jeans.

Perfect for running around town. I tried it out at the farmer’s market and with coffee with a friend.

It turned out crazy comfortable and just the right amount of sass for me. Love, love, love the color, too!

This is a first for me – being able to wear something in public that I made. I love this top! It is definitely a keeper! Thanks Indigo Junction for the encouragement, an easy to follow pattern – and your wonderful Crossroads Denim! I am excited to get started on my next project. Hmmmm, maybe something in the Mushroom Denim?

What would you make out of the Crossroads Denim? Leave a comment and I will pick one lucky winner to receive their own Urban Tunic pattern.

And . . . Indygo Junction is offering a discount code for blog tour readers. Get 20% off your purchase at by entering xroads20 at checkout on their website.