Made By a Fabricista: Silk Peasant Blouse

Hello everyone! My name is Michelle, and I blog about sewing from the Seattle area. I am thrilled to be joining the Fabricistas and want to share my first project with you: a silk peasant blouse:

For this project, I used a pattern that I had previously made and loved--HotPatterns Classix Nouveau Refined Peasant Blouse.

For my previous version of this top, I used a cotton double gauze. I've been wearing that version nearly non-stop, so for my second version, I decided to up the ante and use a silk double georgette from Fabric Mart. Fabric Mart is sold out of this particular fabric but does have other colors available: Silk Double Georgette Fabrics.

The pattern itself is a raglan-sleeved blouse with a gathered neckline and a v-neck slit opening. You can see the details a little better when the blouse is lying flat:

Outside of being a bit slippery and wiggly, as silks generally are, this fabric was lovely to work with. That's a LOT of gathering in that neckline, and the silk handled it like a pro. Additionally, it pressed very nicely (I used my steam iron on a medium-high heat setting) and didn't ravel nearly as much as some silks that I've worked with. Amazingly, even though my cat kept insisting on sitting on and kneading the in-process blouse, it didn't even pick up any cat-claw-related runs.

A special fabric like this one deserved a special seam finish, so I used French seams to finish all of the internal seams on this blouse:

The blouse feels lovely to wear--the silk is soft and drapey with just a hint of sheerness. (I am wearing a cami in the modeled photos just to be extra cautious in making sure that it's work-appropriate.)

For fitting alterations, I only did a small FBA (rotated to the neck gathers) and widened the wrist cuff a bit. (The cuff was a bit snug on my original version.) I'm not even sure that I needed the FBA, which I'd made primarily to keep the blouse from riding up in front. However, this silk has such a nice drape that ride-up doesn't seem to be an issue.

I'm happy to be able to add this blouse to my closet. It's nice without being too fancy and wasn't terribly difficult to sew (silk slipperiness aside).

Happy Sewing!
--Michelle
Happily Caffeinated

Made By A Fabricista: Speaking My Truth

Happy Saturday All! In these unsettling times, I hug my children a little tighter, spend quality time embracing them, and cherish every moment even more. This pandemic has allowed me to appreciate deep conversations about racial injustice, police brutality, and their feelings about growing up black . My daughter Arielle, a happy go lucky child, shuns away as she is always being questioned about her race and which box she checks off on an application. She hates the fact that she is consistently asked by her peers and teachers at school if she is biracial, Hispanic, or Black . She has often times questioned her own identity, yet she gladly responds to anyone who asks, “ I am black and I am a part of the human race ”. My son despises the news media (especially social media) and doesn't watch it at all. The death of his older brother and guns triggers a fear that we pray he overcomes. Over the past few weeks, I have read some of the most unreal remarks and comments about "

Made by a Fabricista: A Work Wardrobe with a $50 Fabric Budget

Can you save money by sewing your own clothes? Well, that all depends on a lot of factors! I decided to challenge myself to make a new Spring work wardrobe with a $50 budget for fabric. I know, I know- that doesn't include your patterns, notions and miscellaneous things like interfacing and lining. For me, those are already sunk costs, because I already have them. By ordering during one of Fabric Mart's $2/$3/$4 sales, I was able to make 8 items- 2 pants, 1 skirt, 1 dress, and 3 tops. Here's my exact order: This took me about 6 weeks once I started. I usually sew after dinner for about an hour or two every day. It's my relaxation time. I dove right in the deep end with the jacket first. I absolutely love this fabric! It is so bright and cheery. I made the jacket with Vogue 2957, an out of print Anne Klein designer pattern. The fabric is a Milly Cady suiting which I found challenging to work with. It feels delightful, but it is tough as nails.

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