Made by a Fabricista: Boucle Jacket by Diane

Happy New Year Friends!  I'm happy to get my Fabricista year off to a good start with a classic boucle jacket. It's a timeless style, classic fabric and beautiful color!

I started with New Look pattern 6028 view A and chose Fabric Mart's soft green, black and white boucle suiting, similar to the type of fabric used in the pattern photo (the fabric also comes in this pretty pink, yum!)  I used this Maggy London black satin for the lining.  So luxurious!

I didn't make any style changes or alterations to the pattern (don't you love when you get a pattern like that?)  but I changed the lining. The jacket shell pattern and the lining pattern are the same, meaning, when you sew the lining and jacket together, the lining fabric is right up to the outer edge of the jacket.  So if the jacket comes open or lifts up, you would see the lining right at the edge.  I wanted a more traditional lining that included a facing all the way around the neckline and a hem.  It's an easy remedy:

1) I added 1" to the hem of the jacket shell (there was only a 5/8" seam allowance).

2) I cut the jacket front facing out of the shell fabric.

3) I cut a back neck facing out of the shell fabric and attached it to lining.

This boucle is great to work with because it has some natural give, making sewing curves and easing in sleeves a breeze.  I added a sleeve head to the sleeve to give the jacket additional structure.  Here's how I made them (it's so easy you don't need to buy them):

Trace the sleeve head onto lightweight fleece, from dot to dot.

Draw a line from dot to dot.

Fold along the line and cut out the curve

Sew the sleeve head onto the seam allowance of the sleeve, matching raw edges of fleece and sleeve.  Stitch just inside stitching line (4/8").  Press all seams toward the sleeve.

The sleeve on the left has a sleeve head and the one on the right doesn't.  You can see what a big difference this tiny piece of fleece makes.  The one on the left looks much better, it even makes the side of the jacket hang more smoothly.  And this is all before shoulder pads!

And now for the fun part....the trim!  The outer trim on the jacket is simply bias strips of fabric gathered down the center.  I used the gathering foot on my machine, set the tension all the way up, used the longest stitch length and stitched until everything was gathered.  I put the trim on with a straight stitch right over the gathering line.  Super easy....and pretty!

I had some leftover strips so I sewed them into a continuous circle, put a button on top of the raw edges and made a flower.  I'm feeling pretty tricky right now! 

I think now it's time to make this jacket in pink!

Happy New Year! 

Diane

Gatorbunnysews

Marsala: Pantones Color Of The Year & Why It's Fabulous

Ladies And Gents: Marsala is 2015's color of the year and it is lovely as ever.

Marsala is a great color for both women and men. It's simple and yet lavish, inviting and plentiful.

This color goes with many skin tones, making it perfect for apparel, accessories, & more! Sophisticated and warm, allow this color to make its way into your life!

Vogue's V1424

For example, in the picture above, she is wearing a Marsala colored lipstick creating a perfect pop of color against her dark Marsala dress. It's sultry and yet subtle. 

This is a great example of how men can wear this color, too! It's classy yet casual. Can be dressed up or dressed down. 2015's color of the year is seriously versatile!

For our returning blog fans/customers, as you know in the above picture is Julie. She sewed this dress out of one of our dark Marsala chevron knits and will be doing a future blog post about it so stay tuned! As you can see, it goes great with her skin tone and can easily be dressed up for any occasion!

            

              BMA7490                   CXH7708                     BPB7807                    SYD7809

By now, some of you may be wondering, does Fabric Mart have any fabric in this color? Well we absolutely do! Above are a few fabrics I thought would provide great inspiration. As we get colors like Marsala, we will be naming our fabrics as such so don't hesitate to look it up by its name on our site!

For more inspiration on Pantones Color Of The Year, be sure to visit our pinterest page!
http://www.pinterest.com/fmfabrics/2015-color-of-the-year-marsala/

Made by a Fabricista: Sue Makes a Workout Outfit

Every year I vow to get in shape and stay in shape. Typically, I do really well with this promise to myself up until about October. Then it seems like busyness, apathy, and life just gets in the way and I backslide into old habits...including not working out!  So to start 2015 out right, I decided the best and most appropriate thing to do is make some workout clothes I will look forward to wearing and why not? They go together quickly and with this AMAZING fabric I choose from Fabric Mart to complete the job, I'll make more!  

This is a poly/lycra blend and I wish you were able to touch it, it is SO soft!  I wish I could wear something like this to work as I think I'd smile all day long!  I'd certainly look and feel comfortable.

For the jacket I used Jalie 2679, or the women's sport jacket. The details are awesome, the directions are good although a little sparse, and the drafting is perfect.  I LOVE this pattern and I am so pleased with my final result!

It was fun playing with the layout of the pattern pieces to determine where I would use the contrasting white.

For the pants, I used a Kwik Sew pattern that has been in my stash for quite a while. Kwik Sew 3988 has two versions of Yoga/workout pants with a long version with a waist inset, perfect for color blocking, or a shorter version that's knee length that you can make color blocked at the waist seam and outer legs at the knees. Both views have a gusset at the crotch area--which makes you able to move in multiple ways--even ways you didn't know your body was capable of doing!

I LOVE this fabric.  It is so soft and I am very happy with the patterns I choose to make this outfit. If Fabric Mart has any of this fabric left, don't hesitate to purchase is for any knit garment. It is lovely stuff! Check out their activewear selection here. It is a little sparse at the moment, but you can also check out the swimwear section for 4-way stretch knits that could be good for this project as well. 

~ Sue