Itch to Stitch Book Release! Prague Top

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I’m so excited to share that Kennis Wong, the designer at Itch to Stitch (a pattern company for which I’ve been a longtime tester), is releasing her first BOOK! The book, Sew Beautiful: Make Stylish Handmade Clothing With Simple Stitch-And-Wear Patterns, is available for preorder in paperback and digital formats and includes eight patterns geared towards beginner sewists and perfect for creating a capsule wardrobe. Sizes range from 00 to 20 (bust size 46”/117 cm and hip size 48”/122 cm).

Sew Beautiful is a total steal too! The digital version is the same price as a normal Itch to Stitch pattern, and the paperback is equivalent to buying two patterns! And while I did receive a copy of the digital version for purposes of promotion, I went ahead and preordered the paperback – partly because I’m excited for Kennis, and partly because it’s not every day your name gets listed in the back of a published book! 😉 ) Sew Beautiful releases worldwide on December 8th, but by preordering it now, you’ll help the publishers get a good feel for how many copies they should be printing in the first run :). Scroll to the bottom of this post for all the places you can preorder.

Each day this week, Itch to Stitch has been sharing one of the eight patterns from Sew Beautiful, and today it’s the Prague Top. While I had hoped to make a few of these (and I still will), I actually quickly whipped this one up last minute on Monday night. Yes, if you’re a confident sewist, you can pump this one out very quickly! I think total cut and sew time was probably 1 1/2 hours.

About the Prague

The Prague line drawings, Itch to Stitch

The Prague is a cold shoulder top and dress designed for knit fabrics. Variations include two different necklines (scoop and v), sleeve lengths (elbow and short), and bodice lengths (top/dress). There are no closures, so it’s perfect for beginners.

Fabric suggestions include jersey, rayon spandex, double brushed polyester and cotton Spandex. I used cotton Spandex (Lycra) (from Simply By Ti) for mine and feel like it’s a little too structured for this look. I would rather something with more drape, so for my next one I’ll either use a bamboo lycra or rayon lycra.

Size wise, I used a 0 for my chest, blended to a 2 at the waist and a 4 at the hip. I like that being less fitted means I’m not showing tummy bulges, though I think I would rather less flare in this fabric type – I think next time I would just go with the 2 at the hip as well. (That said, if you look at Kennis’ styling pictures, you can see she’s tied a knot in some of her versions of this top, so if you do keep it wide at the hip, you’ll have that option as well). I also lengthened this top by 1/2″ for my height.

Overall, this one was an easy sew and by changing up your fabrics and features, you can get many different looks from this one pattern.

Buy the Book!

For US purchasers:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-a-Million 
• Indiebound
• Book Depository

For non-US purchasers:

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Spain
• UK

More book details:

What formats are available?

1. Printed soft-cover book:
   It’s a beautifully-printed book full of gorgeous photos and illustrations. The printed patterns (in color) are enclosed in the back of the book. You will need to trace the patterns using tissue paper (medical exam paper or Swedish tracing paper). The pattern pieces are staggered on each other (a la Burda or Ottobre magazine).
   
2. Kindle book with PDF patterns:
   For those who have a Kindle device, you know what a Kindle book is. But even for those who don’t own a Kindle, you can download the Kindle app onto your mobile device (iPhone or Android) or computer (Mac or Windows), so you too can enjoy the Kindle book. The Kindle format will include a link and a password for you to download the PDF patterns. The PDF patterns look and work just like regular Itch to Stitch PDF patterns—they have one file that you can print using US Letter or A4 size paper, and another file that you can print using A0 size paper. These pattern pieces are not staggered (as I said, they are just like regular Itch to Stitch patterns).