Winter Wear Designs Champs Elysee Cross Back Blazer Sewing Pattern - Girl Charlee Denim

That is quite the title, right?  Well, it is quite the pattern, so a fitting name.    I loved making the Winter Wear Designs Champs Elysee Cross Back Blazer  with this Girl Charlee Stretch Denim .

The description for this jacket is

This pattern is a blazer designed with princess seams and the option of a gathered sleeve or straight sleeve. You also have the option of short, 3/4 length, or long sleeves - so it is perfect for all seasons. All of the internal seams are finished with bias tape for a professional finish that adds a great pop when the jacket is opened. The Cross Back Blazer can dress up or down easily so that it works perfectly at the office or on the playground. The cross back allows for ease of movement and a relaxed fit yet it still has a tailored finish that will convince anyone that it came from a high end store. 
This pattern is available in sizes XS through 2XL 
This is an intermediate level pattern 

I really liked the look of the cross back on this blazer, such an interesting detail.  Now my back is big on this jacket, but I am wearing it with a sleeveless tank.  My intentions for this jacket are to wear with sweaters and layers, thus the looser fit.  

My sizing corresponds to the Large size, I have a 38 inch bust and hip, too.  

Now if you want a closer fitting jacket, size down.  This is what I will do for the next jacket, wouldn't it be so cute out of this black and white tile stretch denim?  Or this floral?

Let's talk about the denim, this stretch denim is a dream to sew and here is the description

High quality Italian imported light indigo blue slub denim fabric with a bit of spandex for good recovery and movement. Stretch is about 20% across the grain and also has a natural bias stretch of about 25%. Fabric has a small amount of tate-ochi, or slightly lighter and darker vertical lines visible in the fabric that give it a stylish, un-uniform appearance. Great for jeans, jackets, pants, and more! A very high end designer fabric.

The fabric washed and dried beautifully and Girl Charlee does say the fabric might bleed due to the dying process.  So please do wash the denim and I like to wash my denim twice and dry it twice.  It just makes me feel better about possible shrinkage.  

This stretch denim would be fantastic for jeans, the amount of stretch is perfect for comfortable jeans.  Plus the recovery is excellent.

The Blazer instructions are very thorough and have bias binding as a seam finish.  I made my own binding from some quilting batik in my stash.  

I do like to finish my facings a bit differently, I use the fusible interfacing to finish the edge.  Here is a tutorial I have for this method.  I just love the clean finish it has

The pattern does give the option for a front button, which I plan to add.  My machine is in the shop for some repairs and I am using Kaitlyn's machine presently.  I am not feeling that brave in attempting a buttonhole on her machine.  I know it will sew it perfectly, but I am use to my own machine, so I can just wait a week or two

The fall winds were blowing a bit briskly and I had to hold the jacket fronts to keep my jacket in place.  That is fine, it is so nice to have the brisk weather.

A couple of changes, the pattern has you take the bias binding on the seam between the facing and the front.  The binding is from the back to the hem to the front.  I stopped my binding about 2" inside the facing.  I also topstitched the entire blazer front and neck edge.  I wanted to continue the stitching of the hem around the entire jacket.  The seam allowances for this pattern are 3/8", my front princess seams and side seams are stitched at 5/8".  The final alteration was to cut the length of the pattern at the largest size.

Disclosure - Girl Charlee provided me with the fabric and the pdf pattern to make this garment.  The opinions of construction, the pattern and the fabric are all mine.