Winner of the 2nd Challenge & 3rd Challenge Announced: Inspired by Ready-to-Wear

The winner of the 2nd challenge is...

Ann from SewBaby!

Congratulations! You have won three free patterns from Pamela's Patterns!

Unfortunately, someone has to go home. We're sorry to see Jess from The Sometimes Sewist leave the challenge. As always, great job to each and every one of the participants. This entire challenge is truly a challenge to add into your everyday life!

Winner from the Flickr Page: Melody M. from Sew Melodic is the winner of a free pattern from Pamela's Patterns. This was a randomly selected drawing. Please email me
(fabricmartblog{@}gmail.com) to claim your prize.

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3rd Challenge: Inspired by Ready-to-Wear

Everyone has a favorite garment in their wardrobe. Even if you are a home sewer, nine chances out of ten this favorite garment is not made by you (but maybe it is!) Every time I sew, I try to make each garment my favorite thing to wear, but it just doesn't always work that way. So whether your favorite garment is handmade or not, I want you to dig in your closet for your favorite ready-to-wear garment. It can be a dress, pants, skirt, top, cardigan, anything! Use this garment as a pattern to create a duplicate garment out of a fabric(s) of your choice. You can make an alteration of the RTW item if it doesn't fit you in a particular place, but the objective is to create a duplicate, not an altered version of the original garment. You will be using this garment as a pattern!

There are a number of resources out there that can help you with this process. I found this informative video from Nancy Zieman of Sewing with Nancy to be helpful.

That's not all! Since all of you have blogs, I would like you to write a blog post on how you created the copycat garment. As always, mention any alterations you needed to make to ensure a better fit (if neccessary.) Talk about how you used the original RTW garment to make the new RTW-inspired piece.

We will be judging on a 1-10 scale (10 being the highest) using the following criteria:

Carrying out the Challenge - Did you successfully create a new garment using your favorite RTW garment as a pattern/guide? Don't forget to show us the original RTW garment!

Process Explanation - Did you explain to the viewers how you went about copying the RTW garment and making a brand-new handmade garment? You will need to create a post on your blog. (I will link your post up with our blog.)

Craftsmanship - Did you put a lot of care into the construction? Top-stitching straight, careful overall construction, etc.

Presentation - While we totally understand not everyone has a professional camera and the perfect backdrop for photographing their creations, (Me included!!) you are in front of a world of other sewers! Make yourself look presentable. Submit a photo of the front, back and side view of the garment, as well as a "presentation photo" (this should be the best photo!) Detail photos are also requested so we can be better judges. So if you do some embellishing or a specific technique, zoom in and share with us! (Not all photos may be used in the final blog post, but shared with the judges.)

Guest Judge to be announced!

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Entries are due by Tuesday, September 23rd, with viewer judging on Wednesday, September 24th-Thursday, September 25th. The winner will be announced Friday, September 26th and a new challenge will begin!

PRIZES!!
The winner of the 1st challenge will receive a Free Knit Bundle and three free patterns of their choice from the Fabric Mart Pattern collection.

Reader Participation!

Don't forget!! If you are watching from the sidelines, you can participate in the challenge too! Head on over to our Flickr page and upload two photos - the original RTW garment and the new garment made using the RTW garment. Follow the same rules as the Challenge participants. Upload a photo of your finished garment by Wednesday, September 24th (made during the challenge please, no previously made items!) We will have a random drawing for the Flickr winner! They will win one free pattern of their choice from the Fabric Mart Pattern collection. (All prizes are sent to winner at the end of the challenge.)

Ready, set, go!!

Made By A Fabricista: A matching set and a happy error.

Hi sewing friends! Today I’m sharing a new outfit I made inspired by looks I’ve been seeing pop up in my Facebook and IG feeds a LOT this year. I’m talking about those monochromatic matching top and bottom outfits, sometimes in linen, sometimes in a flowy knit - the ones that advertise they go effortlessly from loungewear to office wear to going out wear. So I decided to “sew the look” using Fabric Mart fabric and a few patterns I already in my massive pattern library. First, let me share that I have very few solid color pieces in my closet. I’m so taken in by whimsy and geometric prints that this is still a gaping hole in my wardrobe - a matching solid color set was actually a practical addition for me. So let me walk you through how I created this look, and also tip you off to an error I made while cutting that worked out pretty well after all. Can you spot the error? Hint - it’s somewhere in the top: Here’s how I went about building my matchy match outfit. And here’...

Made By A Fabricista: Birthday Dress

May is my absolute favorite month, we get to enjoy spring weather and it is my birth month. The birthstone for May is Emerald. I think emerald is such a gorgeous color so when I saw this beautiful ombre charmeuse I thought it would be the perfect fabric to make for my birthday dress. To be honest it took me a while to narrow down on a design. After a lot of back and forth I ended up going back to my first sketch that I created. I love to sketch out my ideas to figure out the patterning and materials. To create the design I used the method of draping on my dressform. I used the lightweight muslin that Fabric Mart offers. It is always best to use a muslin or material similar to your final fabric. I started first by marking my style lines with some draping tape on my dress form. I tore out pieces of muslin to fit within those lines making sure I am always marking my grainline. I also used the muslin to determine how I will create the rosettes onto...

Made By A Fabricista: 3D Florals Meet Polka Dot Charm: A Look That Transitions With Style

When I saw a sleek pink mini skirt adorned with a dramatic 3D flower on Pinterest, I was immediately inspired. It had that perfect balance of playfulness and polish—something I knew I wanted to recreate with my own spin. Rather than replicate the exact look, I adapted the silhouette into something more wearable for my lifestyle using a vibrant stretch tweed fabric from Fabric Mart. The Skirt: From Pinterest to Personalized For my version, I used Butterick 5446—a tried-and-true pencil skirt pattern—as the base. I swapped out the smooth fabric from the inspiration for a neon stretch tweed, which adds structure and visual texture while still being comfortable to wear. The oversized flower detail is what makes this piece stand out, and it was surprisingly simple to make. I found a quick and easy tutorial on Instagram for how to create petal shapes and build a dimensional flower. There are also plenty of resources on YouTube that break the process down step by step. Once you’ve got the tec...

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