Made by a Fabricista: Tomboy Chic

Now that the weather is finally starting to cool, my need to get glammed up is diminishing. At the same time, I realized I didn't have too many options in my wardrobe for the days I just want to put on some sneakers and still maintain my own personal style. I mean, my gym clothes are pretty dope, but they are just that, gym clothes. Somehow, I missed having more than a couple options for my"kick back" days.

The fabric I used is a heather gray 100% wool chunky sweater knit from Fabric Mart. The fabric is no longer available, but is very similar to this choice (HERE). The only difference is the fabric in the link is a lighter knit in weight.

The pattern I used for the sweat pants is oddly Vogue 1411. I have made these pants in every variation OTHER than what it was designed for. Both previous pairs I made were with Goat and Lamb skin leather. I cut my normal size before thoroughly pressing the fabric to loosen the weave.

This time I chose to double the pattern pieces on the middle front piece and create a 1/4 quilted top stitch design for a total of 4 pattern pieces in stead of 2.

To attach the two pieces per leg, I attached the middle front pattern pieces to the upper front pieces right sides together.

Once the pieces were attached, I completed the top stitch design before adding the bottom side pieces. I then drafted my own tight fitting cuff for the bottom of the pants and added elastic to the waistband

Finally, this jacket! I have been experimenting with different textures and designs that will change a normal garment into something truly different and unique. This is one of the outerwear jackets I was working on over the past week. A great deal of painting and repainting went into it. Because............. it would be too much like right for me to leave a brand new jacket in its original state right? RIGHT!!! I look forward to showing you the next set of ideas I have been working on.

Overall, I love this look. The chunky sweater knit on the pants is super warm so I know it will last me from now through the winter. The fabric does tend to roll a lot, but no more than your typical jersey/ITY knits. The construction involved a great deal of pressing.

Until next time, happy sewing!

Jenese

Needles and Fashion

Made By A Fabricista: Why Sew A Muslin

Here it is, my September blog post featuring Newlook N6692 and this pretty rayon challis from Fabric Mart! This pattern style is so in right now. The square neckline, cute puff sleeves and the tiered skirt are all exactly what I was looking for in a summer dress. As always I started with making a muslin first! Let’s get into why it’s important to start with a muslin. A muslin is basically a practice garment. It prevents you from cutting into your good fabric prematurely. I usually use a muslin fabric (natural cotton) but you should also consider using a fabric that is the same weight as your fashion fabric. This will give you a truer gauge of how the garment is going to lay in the final fabric. Anytime I try out a new pattern company I make a muslin. This was my first time using a Newlook pattern so I need to know what the ease would be like for this pattern. Also I need to see how the bust would fit me and where I would need to make adjustments. Plus there were some new techniques

Made By A Fabricista: The Love of Sewing - Basic Pieces for a Beginner

Happy Friday All! It has been a while since I made myself a dress. I am excited to sew after not making anything since my last post (whew) and finally sharing some photos. This past summer has been a roller coaster journey with plans to release a small collection and then deciding that right before the launch to postpone. Sewing has brought me joy over the past 8 years and the mere fact to sew daily for orders had me in a panic mode. I really don’t want to walk away from my craft due to burn out and decided that if I do sew for others, it would be only for local clients. Moreover, If next year I decide to launch, it would be seasonal and not year round. I really want to share my talent and love for sewing with others but don’t want it to be a full time job and lose the passion in me. After a bit of soul searching, teaching and sharing my talent with my community will always be my first love. For the past 2 summers, I was blessed to partner with two nonprofit organizations’ local sum

Made By A Fabricista: End of Summer

Summer is nearing to an end but here where I am in Texas the heat isn’t letting up any time soon! I still have plenty of time to get a few more summer looks out of the way. In this blog I will be sharing two separate projects. The first project is this denim set; I had the inspiration saved on my list of makes to make. For this project I got this gorgeous denim and matching thread to start my project. Yes, Fabric Mart will match the thread to your fabric perfectly and with my favorite thread brand Gutermann. The denim had a very great weight and wasn’t too stiff. It was very starchy when it arrived, so I did a prewash before working with it. I’m so glad I did because it had a lot of dye saturated in which would not have been great for the skin and other clothes. For the first part of the set, I drafted a corset with the scallop edge cups, such a cute detail! To start I used my bodice sloper to make the corset, I was not worried about the design details and focused more on

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