Made By A Fabricista: Fabric Kits

For this month's post, I decided to show you a wonderful product on Fabric Mart's site. Fabric Kits! Did you know Fabric Mart has these? If you've never used a Fabric Kit, it is a great opportunity to try a new pattern company with a fabric that is perfect for that make.

Here is a link so you can browse for yourself! Fabric-Kits

I chose a kit in my favorite color to wear, black. My kit is by The Sewing Workshop and I made the Eureka skirt in a ponte knit in black.

As I mentioned earlier, the pattern and fabric pairing is really nice. This skirt is perfect in a rather stable ponte knit. This fabric washes and dries really well and holds its shape when you wear it all day.

I always forget how difficult it is to photograph black inside. The details on this skirt are fun. This is different than a regular straight skirt. I hope you can see the seaming on this skirt. There are no side seams and the V in the front forms a bit of a pleat at the center front and back. It also has an elastic waistline and this time of year, who doesn't love that?

To go with this skirt, I choose this gray and black striped knit. This was very nice to work with and even nicer on my skin! I used a free pattern I found on-line and I quite like it and thought the casual styling was really nice with the skirt, plus it hides the elastic waistband so I am the only one who knows!

Fabric Mart has a nice selection of notions and one I want to highlight is the SewkeysE tape. If you've never tried this, do! It is amazing on knits and I am so sold on it I won't use any other brand. I used it on the hems of my top and skirt and also to stabilize the neckline of the top. It works like a dream!

After fusing the SewkeysE tape, it is simple to just turn the hem up and then stitch. Since I am not loving my coverstitch, I use a stretch stitch on my regular Bernina sewing machine and it worked beautifully.

I hope if you're not too sure about sewing with knit fabric you'll give a Fabric kit a try. I also hope you'll try the SewkeysE tape! It applies so easily and makes a nice clean edge if you like to use it as a guide for pressing a perfect hem length. See below for that!

Thanks for reading!
Sue from Ilove2sew!

Made By A Fabricista: A Wooly Wearable Blanket.

Twirling in a me-made outfit! I live in a small town where the nearest fabric shop is a road trip away, so I almost exclusively shop for fabric online. Having access to an online shop like Fabric Mart with a solid search engine is incredibly helpful. But by far my favorite aspect of Fabric Mart is what I call the “Drape Picture” included in each listing! This picture gives me all the information I need and I find it more helpful than the exact weight per yard/square meter. Seeing how the fabric falls close or away from the body gives me a clear idea of how it will behave and inspires me to make it into something that will highlight the fabric’s nature. When I saw the drape of this “Baked Plum” wool suiting , I immediately wanted to immortalize those beautiful folds into a skirt! I opted for a simple self-drafted pleated skirt with a deep hem. I wear my dresses year-round and rely on wool skirts that I layer under or over my dresses for warmth. I cut two panels for the front ...

Made By A Fabricista: Which comes first – the fabric or the pattern?

Ah, the age old question garment sewers are often asked – do you choose the pattern first and then look for fabric, or do you buy fabric and then later decide what it will be when it grows up? If you are a sewist with a large fabric stash (like myself), then perhaps you are on Team Fabric. I would say I definitely lean that way, but there are also times when I land somewhere in the middle – I see a fabric and I think, I’ve just seen a pattern and these two would be perfect together! And that’s how gorgeous dusty rose stretch velvet and a recently released cardigan pattern came together to create the newest addition to my wardrobe. And had me improvising a few things along the way. First. I have to admit - I have a stretch velvet problem. I see it pop up on the website and I almost always grab it, especially if I see a sale. It’s not the easiest fabric to sew (it’s slippery as heck!), but I love it so much and I especially love using it in non-traditional ways. In my last blog post, I...

Made By A Fabricista: Back In The Saddle

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