Made by a Fabricista: Working with Panels

If you browse through our website often, you may periodically come across fabric that comes in panels or borders. While some may feel like it's too much of a challenge, they offer wonderful possibilities for something out of the ordinary! You can be really creative with panels! Maggy London is known for using paneled fabric in her garments, and we just so happen to get some of those.

I recently offered this fabric in Julie's Picks and was pleasantly surprised by the number of people that purchased it! It was a stretch cotton sateen with a large stripe-effect floral design. You are seeing the entire panel in the dress.

Here are examples of other panels prints in garments:

So I put myself to the challenge of making something with a panel. I chose the Purple Floral Lace Half Medallion ITY Knit.

I really enjoyed trying to figure out how to use it. I used my mannequin as a model. I tried the panel at my shoulders, at my waist and even along one side of my body. (I didn't get a photo of that one though...)

I really liked the panel at the top of the dress. Comparing it to the second photo, I felt like the panel on my hips would just accentuate more than is necessary. Plus the panel sort of looked like an apron. I love aprons, but I just wasn't going for that look. The panel at the top really frames my face and ascetically looked better. As I mentioned before, I tried the panel at the side, but didn't care for that as much either. Here is an example of how you can use a panel like this on the side of your body:

Here is the completed dress! I used McCall 6112, which looks to be discontinued from McCall's website. I made this a few times before, so I knew the pattern pretty well. It's not a very hard pattern, which makes it much easier to work with panels. Hint: Don't select a pattern with too many pattern pieces in the place you're using the panel. This was a simple 4-piece pattern with no sleeve pieces since it was a dolman sleeve!

So I guess you're wondering how I did this??

I looked at my bodice pieces and made sure they were going to fit on the fabric. Once I determined that they would, I placed the pattern in the middle of the medallion. I also placed the shoulder seam at the straight edge of the medallion. I traced around this, then turned the pattern piece to cut the other half of the bodice front. Cut out the entire bodice front, then repeat for the back.

When flipping your pattern to create the mirror-image, I used pins to show me the middle of the bodice. I didn't want to have a chalk mark going down the middle of the fabric. I know it washes out, but I fear markings not coming out!

You're probably wondering how much fabric I need for this dress? You will need two panels. One for the front and one for the back. But keep in mind that depending on your size, you may have to buy a different black knit for the skirt. I was able to get the skirt out of the left side of the fabric (where the small stripe design is.) If you would see the dress in person, you would see that I have a small 1-inch medallion print on my side.

That's all there is to it! Have you worked with panels before? What did you make? Share you experiences with us!

Check out our selection of Maggy London Fabrics Here. Also check out our Pinterest Board featuring our Maggy London fabrics and ideas!

~Julie

Made By A Fabricista: A Tipsy Martini Transitional Three Piece Look

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon with Sharon Sews with my latest Fabricista make – a three-piece set I can wear as the weather transitions to fall here in Texas. It may look like a summer outfit but there will days filled with sunshine and high temps well into November. At first glance it looks like a nice, lightweight jacket, top and pants. But look closer – it’s sewn from the designer Tipsy Martini cotton sateen that was originally used by the designer for a pajama set. Now I could have sewn myself a pair of pajamas using the Closet Core Carolyn Pajama pattern (available at Fabric Mart) and replicated the designer pajamas. But if I had gone that route the only ones who would have seen this adorable kitschy fabric would be my family. This print is much too cute to hide out at home. This Tipsy Martini cotton sateen fabric was lovely to sew. I used black thread, an 80/12 universal needle, and Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Fuse Medium interfacing (link here). Note that this is a rayon fu

Made By A Fabricista: Hooray for Cozy Fall Sews!

Greetings, all! I am in such high spirits with the best-of-all-seasons just beginning and change is finally in the air. I always rejoice when the sweatiest time of the year passes and we can all take a deep breath and gear up for cozier times. Neighborhood Patterns is a new-to-me designer, and I came across them on Instagram in late summer and fell in love with the Plain Jane Skirt. This is such a simple A-line skirt, but with nice details like large inseam pockets and an optional drawstring, and though I’m sure I could draft this style myself, the appeal of having it all done for me was too tempting to pass up. A sew such as this is a lovely palate-cleanser and this was the first project I sewed after returning from a cross-country trip. Perfect! The gorgeous plaid flannel is exactly what I want to be wearing in the fall. The fabric is SO soft and a pleasure to snuggle up in. Because flannel does not have much body and is prone to stretching or shifting with all its mechanical give,

Made By A Fabricista: Quilted Jacket Chronicle

What do you get when mixing the best things about apparel sewing and machine quilting? A quilted jacket! It's funny that I elected to sew myself a quilted jacket for this Fabricista blog because I don't consider myself much of a quilter. I can count on my hands the number of quilted projects I've made over the last few years. While I fully appreciate the end product of quilting, I don't normally gravitate toward starting quilting projects. That's why making a quilted jacket is a new and exciting project for me! It gives me the fun of making a quilt on a much smaller scale. If you are an avid apparel sewist and are new to quilting, this is the perfect project to take for a quilting test drive! For my quilted jacket, I used the Seamwork Easton Jacket pattern. I decided to stick with a solid-colored fabric for the jacket's exterior and ordered 4 yards of Dark Umber Brown Lycra Stretch Canvas Suiting from the Fabric Mart website. I wanted a contrasting color for the

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