Made by a Fabricista: A Little French Terry Dress.

Working at Fabric Mart is rewarding in many aspects. Inspiration fills you when you are around so many fabrics. The colors, patterns and other characteristics of the fabrics take me to a world of imagination.

One of many the afternoons sitting at my desk in front of bolts of fabrics waiting for me to take them one by one and determine their information to describe them for the website, I suddenly pictured a dress made out of the two fabrics that Brett had put together on the table. Sometimes I feel like he is doing it on purpose! I stopped describing and just had to run to my boss and ask her "Julie, may I sew a dress with two of the new children fabrics that came today?" She did not hesitate, "Sure! Whatever you need to do!"

Immediately I grabbed my best friends: scissors, a ruler and a piece of paper. I drew a sketch and took the bolts to cut the pieces I needed. Very sleek as if I were doing something wrong I drew the patterns on the fabric and cut them using a pen and pins. If I would have had a sewing machine there I bet I would have sewn it!

I went home that Friday with my pieces and put them together. The sewing machine did not want to work, the thread on the opposite side was getting messy and loopy. I followed Julie's advice: to follow instructions of the sewing machine manual but that didn't work either.

And then I was reminded of my mother when I was five years old and she was sewing all night long one night, I woke up and saw her sewing with paper underneath the fabric, I thought it was one of her many inventions.

So that day I tried with paper and it worked.

For the flower I cut circles folded them in half and found the radius. While holding the center with one hand I gathered from one edge to the other. I hand sewed each and made many more of those until I had enough for the fluffy flower. I love how French Terry and Jerseys curl up so I took some of those curls and used them as decor for my flower.

The dress is made out of an ~~Apricot French Terry and a Floral Cotton Poplin.~~ SOLD OUT

Taken from the New Children's Collection of Fabrics introduced two weeks ago in the new arrivals of our website.

French Terry is a Cotton Knit that allows skin to breath and is very confortable and especially soft to wear against the skin. For that reason the dress is lined in all French Terry and the Ballon Skirt is made out Poplin that being crispy holds its shape and body. This crispness was also suitable for the floral decoration.

I finished this cute dress at 11:30 pm. in between helping my daughter, doing dinner, feeding the dogs and cat and weeding. But I enjoyed sewing that day. I hope you all like it and enjoy the New Children's Collection.
Send me your ideas and projects to fabricmartblog@gmail.com, we would love to show them off on the blog! ~Gabby

Made By A Fabricista: Falling for Knits

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Made By A Fabricista: Closing 2025 with a Lined Jacket

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Made By A Fabricista: Chalk and Notch Wren Dress: My Buffet dress for the Christmas season!

I recently sewed the Chalk and Notch Wren dress using a beautifully soft black voile from Fabric Mart, and it turned into such a satisfying, enjoyable project. The pattern itself is very easy to understand and straightforward with clear instructions, intuitive construction, and a relaxed fit that makes the sewing process easy. A buffet dress in the sewing community is a dress that is loose fitting, so you can eat at the buffet without your dress being uncomfortable afterwards, lol! Because the voile I chose is extremely thin and transparent, I opted to line the bodice and first tier. Adding a lining not only provided modesty but also gave the delicate fabric a bit more stability, especially around the neckline and button placket. A helpful tip when sewing a lining into a lightweight bodice is to treat the lining and the main fabric as one. I sewed the bodice as you would for a lined bodice, and the first tier I sewed the pieces together with a basting stitch to make the process...

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