Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Hello, again!

June is always one of my favorite months, I absolutely love and adore the super hot and humid weather we get in this area during our summers (people think I am weird, I know, lol).  But with that said, I cannot stand wearing anything clingy or not breathable during the summer months.  (I will wear poly in summer, but it has to be in a very loose garment!)

When I realized that Fabric Mart had some gorgeous printed silk double georgettes (my favorite right now!) on their website a while back, I knew immediately that I wanted to make something in one of them for a summer sundress.  I also realized that since it was sheer, I would need an underlining of some sort, and since they had a lightweight cotton voile in a complementary color available (this is a good choice, too), I made sure to grab some of that, as well, so that the dress could be super lightweight and still opaque enough to wear without a slip (eww, slips in summer, talk about clingy!).


I had to settle in on a patte…

This week's post is from Jenny, Founder and Creative Director behind Cashmerette Patterns, a pattern line for the modern, curvy woman. This concept can be used on other t-shirt patterns too.

It’s really easy to turn the Cashmerette Concord T-Shirt into a casual dress! When you’re thinking about fabrics, consider using something a little heavier than your usual t-shirt jersey: a double-knit, ponte, or quilted knit would be a great idea. I’d also recommend sizing up a size or two to avoid too much cling over your midsection.


How to make your dress pattern
1. Trace your pattern pieces  - use the longest length option.



2. Take your front piece (1 A/B/C) and cut across the lengthen/shorten line.


3. Move the top and bottom pieces apart from each other, by the amount of additional length you need to take your t-shirt to a dress length. For my dress I lengthened it by 7 inches (I’m 5’6”), but you can do more or less depending on the hem length you want.



4. Place a spare piece of paper underne…

As a young adult, I never worked on my birthday (even though I was a mom already!). And I did (and still do!) consider it "my own personal holiday" :)

Since learning to sew, and now that I do work on my birthday, I make myself a new dress for the day!  The last couple of years, my bday falls on a weekday; so my birthday dress has to be work appropriate. Last year I made a knit shirtdress (still a closet favorite!) and this year, the moment I laid eyes on this button front sheath in the June Burda I knew this was it!


Doesn't she look so happy in her dress?! It could totally be her birthday!
I knew I needed something with some body but not too heavy since my birthday IS in July after all. I went straight to a couple of my favorite groups on Fabric Mart - cotton sateen and cotton twill and found this.

I LOVE this print! It works well as 'work-appropriate' animal print - light colored, small scale, neutral - it's cotton with a touch of Lycra, and is completely opaqu…

(Normally you only see me here once a month, but this month I have two posts scheduled, this special post on border printed fabric, and next Wednesday's, which is still a surprise!)

In April, we had our annual school auction to raise money for our school.  Every year it has a theme, and every year I try to make a dress that will be an appropriate match for the theme.  The first year I sewed my own dress for the auction, it was a "Kentucky Derby" theme, and I chose to make a Burda 7137 dress.The next year was a "Space" theme, so I chose to make a dress using a galaxy printed fabric using McCall's 2401.  This year was "My Big Fat Greek Auction," so in keeping with tradition, I made a dress.  ;-)


We were asked to try and wear blue and white, and I figured I had best get on finding some blue and white fabric, because even though I have a ridiculous stash of fabric at my house (thank you, Fabric Mart!), I didn't have any blue and white fabric.  Wh…

Let the festivities begin! 

This is the first post in the Summer of T-shirts Event! In this post, I will share with you some of the best t-shirt patterns out there. This list by no means are the only ones available, but ones that I have either tried or know from other sewers that they are good sewing patterns. I'll also share with you some extra supplies you will need for the pattern hacking process. 
When doing a pattern hack, it is so important to start with a pattern that fits you. So the first step (after you pick out the pattern of course), is to make sure the pattern fits you. Use the fit method you're most comfortable with (I use the Palmer/Pletsch Tissue Fitting Method.) Then sew up the shirt without any pattern hacks. This will help you determine whether the shirt fits you and also gives you an idea of how it should be constructed. It's not easy pattern hacking something if you've never actually sewed the pattern before (especially for beginners). So don't s…

Monday is the official start of summer! It has actually felt like summer here for a few weeks and I'm excited because this is my favorite time of year.

What do you think of when you think of summer? I envision warm weather, road trips, ice cream and beaches. Fashion wise I think red, white and blue, linen, challis, gingham, floral, nautical, sundresses, maxi skirts, sunnies, floppy hats, espadrilles and sandals.


With all those thoughts I was having a hard time narrowing down what to make this month, but then it hit me...What screams summer more than a flirty, white sundress? Nothing!


Choosing fabric was a no-brainer because linen is basically the official fabric of summer. Besides I'd been trying to make up an excuse think of a reason to grab some of Fabric Mart's designer linen for some time now. While I love Fabric Mart for their very detailed photos of each fabric but this time it was the description just grabbed my attention. "A designer quality, 100% linen in a l…