Made by a Fabricista: The 15 Minute Flannel

I'm glad to be back to Fabric Mart's blog with my new cozy flannel. Sewaholic's latest PDF pattern, the Granville Shirt, is the perfect fitted shirt pattern to make a classic flannel shirt while still looking like a girl. I used this soft plaid 100% cotton flannel from Fabric Mart. It's lightweight and dreamy to wear but it also holds it's shape like a good quality flannel should.

So...it didn't actually take me 15 minutes to make this shirt so why call it the "15 Minute Flannel", you ask? Time being what it is in my life right now, I didn't have the opportunity to set aside large blocks of sewing time so I decided to make this shirt in short, 15-20 minute sewing spurts.

A shirt like this, with lots of details, is the perfect project to break up into smaller parts. I found sewing this way made me take my time and focus on each part to be sure everything was done right.

In just 15 minutes or so I could do quite a few separate things: apply interfacing and change serger thread, add pockets and front darts, attach collar band and make collar, make sleeve plackets and sew side seams and set in sleeves.

Sewaholic's patterns are geared toward the pear shaped figure which is quite refreshing for the sewing community. I wouldn't consider myself a pear shape, so I took out some of the hip curve in the side seam. You can see here it's pretty curvy! The instructions have lots of drawings and well written step by step instructions which lend itself to sewing in small time increments.

The pattern uses mostly traditional construction techniques aside from the collar. I was tempted to use my usual collar application but I decided to stick with the instructions (I know...yay for me for following directions). The collar band and collar band facing are attached to the neckline of the shirt first (like the photo above), then the collar is attached to the band. This is the first time I've ever seen this in a collar and I had to read it a few times to get it. The collar band and facing are then stitched, right sides together from the tip just to where the collar starts. After turning the collar band right sides out, the collar is sewn to the band and slipped in. It worked great and it made topstitching a breeze.

I made three small changes to the shirt. First, I cut the pocket, sleeve cuff and back yoke on the bias, second, I made the collar band facing and cuff facing out of contrasting fabric (polka dots because what could be better?) and lastly, I used pearl snaps instead of buttons and that made it easy and fast.

This Granville pattern is a perfect wardrobe staple It makes up great in casual flannel but it would be beautiful in a floral voile or classic in crisp white broadcloth. I'm sure I'll be making it again soon.

This is likely my last winter project and now I'm off to thinking about spring sewing. What's next for all of you?

Thank you Fabric Mart!

Diane at Gatorbunnysews.

Made By A Fabricista: Liberty Snow Day

Hi everyone! While we’ve been blanketed with snow out here in Southeastern PA, I decided to conquer my fear of button holes and make NewLook pattern N6749. I was able to snag a few yards of the Jess + Jean print Liberty of London Tana Lawn for it. It’s always exciting when Fabric Mart is able to get Liberty fabrics in! I always make sure to grab some. Cutting into a beautiful piece of tana lawn is scary every time. The fabric is such good quality, I’m afraid to mess it up! I had to be extra careful as this is also the first directional pattern I’ve worked with. But one of my assistants made sure all of my pieces were laid correctly. Something I wanted to try out with this dress was finishing the inside seams using the overlock stitch on my domestic machine. Normally I would french seam, but it was nice to not have to worry about cutting seam allowance in half, sewing, trimming, flipping, and sewing again. Next time I would cut the seam allowance back before overlocking, but I thin...

Made By A Fabricista: Embracing Winter in Wool Boucle

As winter drags on, the cold weather is such a bummer to me and feeling uncomfortable and cold so often is rough. Meanwhile, I listened to a podcast all about how people in very northern countries deal better with the onset of dark, freezing winter with a radically different mindset of embracing the inevitable season by reframing the chill as refreshing and the opportunity to spend most time indoors as cozy. I can do that! I found a gorgeous, quintessential wool boucle suiting in black and white to make myself a luxurious outer layer while I’m outside attempting to embrace the sting of dry winter air… It’s kind of working. So classic, so chic! Wearing boucle is always an uptown move and I certainly do feel sophisticated in it. This black and white houndstooth combination feels especially Old Hollywood, and what a treat to make something with this! I sewed the Daphne Jacket from Vivian Shao Chen. There are no closures, and the shape is boxy and very easy to wear over multipl...

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing + Running

It’s not every day that I get to mix two of my favorite hobbies. Especially when one hobby is sewing and the other is running. You can’t sew and run at the same time, but, you can go running in something that you sewed! With this realization, I embarked on my first hobby-merging adventure. We’ve had some frigid temperatures in Pennsylvania this winter. Since I’m an outside, stroller-pushing runner, I bundle up my son and myself before I hit the road. The temperature feels 20 degrees warmer for outside runners than the outside air. For the children being pushed in the stroller though, it feels about 20 degrees colder. With these differences in temperature for each of us, layering is the only thing that ensures that we both stay perfectly warm. My running wardrobe has been lacking a warm top layer. My son’s wardrobe would also benefit from having another warm layer, so I knew pullovers were what I should make. Inspired by a name-brand ¼ button-down fleece pullover I saw,...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog