Made By A Fabricista: Birthday Skirt in Red!

HI Fashionistas!

The month of May is a month of celebration for me and my family. We celebrated my birthday and Mothers Day this past weekend, and my husband and I will be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary this week.

So for the month of May, I sewed up a voluminous pleated circle skirt in a beautiful red shirting fabric. Here it is:

Initially, I had planned on creating a high low dramatic hemline, and that is what I was planning on wearing until mid of last week. But after trying it on, it felt very heavy and was not too flattering on me, so I chopped it off to an even hemline about 19 inches from the bottom of the waistband to get this look.

The skirt is completely self-drafted and I will talk about that more in this post. Here is the back view:

A bit obsessed with these owl earrings lately..

I drafted the waistband for the skirt 1first. It is basically a rectangle. For the length, I used my waist measurement, plus 1/2 inch ease, plus an extra 1 inch for seam allowance (since I stitch using 1/2 inch seam allowance to attach the zip on the back). For the hight of the waistband, I wanted a finished measurement of 2.5 inches so the pattern height is 6 inches (double of 2.5 plus 1-inch seam allowance total)

To get this type of volume, I measured from my side seam to side seam on my body (let's call this measurement W) and then drafted a half circle skirt pattern on muslin using a waist measurement of W. I then cut 3 from that pattern and paneled them together. Once that was done, the waist of the 3 panel skirt was larger than my waist circumference. So then I added some pleats to the skirt to make the measurement of the skirt match the measurement of the waistband. Since the waistband was drafted to my waist, all I had to do was freehand some pleats to make the two fit. And Voila! Extra volume!

So you know I had to twirl in this skirt!

This was so fun to wear!

I wore it for my birthday on Saturday:

I also wanted to share a picture of Connor. He is 3 months now. He has started smiling a bit, although he is stingy with his smiles. He is such a serious lil' dude!

And I also ended up wearing it for Mothers Day. It's a fun skirt to wear!

I hope you are having a lovely may. It is getting toasty here, we have had temps in the 90's this past week. The summer is going to be super hot, and I plan on staying home a lot and hosting a lot of playdates to keep myself and my kiddo busy.

I'll see you soon with my next make.

XOXO-
Vatsla from Fashion Behind The Seams

Made By A Fabricista: Falling for Knits

We are now well into Fall, even though the temps are still relatively warm here in Texas. I love the fall season and dressing for Fall. When it comes to the conversation of knits vs. wovens I typically sew mostly wovens. So for this post I decided to sew completely knits! With the holiday season right around the corner I saw these three dress styles as perfect for Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving gatherings. The first look is a tried and true pattern Simplicity S9372. Using this gorgeous burgundy ponte knit , I like how this pattern fits throughout. I chose this color to add to my typically neutral palette in my closet. I also wanted something I could wear to my sorority meetings and found this color perfect. It's an easy sew with back fisheye darts and invisible zipper to add to the tapered style. The neckline and armholes are finished with bias binding giving it a clean finish on the inside. I used a universal needle to sew a...

Made By A Fabricista: Closing 2025 with a Lined Jacket

Hello again, sewing friends! It seems we have arrived yet again in the grandest season for layering, all this oncoming cold weather. I like ending the year with something warm and very useful. Seems based on my past Fabricista posts, I love to sew year-end outerwear, and this round is no different! I challenged myself with a new lined coat (wait, jacket? Coat? I feel like the presence of wool changes things?). Anyhoo, since the lovely Chalk & Notch Den Jacket has been in my queue, I proceeded ahead. I like the large pockets, the option to line or not, and the extra bodice and sleeve seams for topstitching. Sewing this coat is not at all difficult, but the many pieces and loads of topstitching will take a bit of time. My version took me a few multiple-hour sessions to complete. I sewed a size 2, which matches my measurements, and I made no alterations. Hint: for a quick size test, just employ the lining pieces. Gorgeous, muted blue as a soft wool flannel ? This is ...

Made By A Fabricista: Chalk and Notch Wren Dress: My Buffet dress for the Christmas season!

I recently sewed the Chalk and Notch Wren dress using a beautifully soft black voile from Fabric Mart, and it turned into such a satisfying, enjoyable project. The pattern itself is very easy to understand and straightforward with clear instructions, intuitive construction, and a relaxed fit that makes the sewing process easy. A buffet dress in the sewing community is a dress that is loose fitting, so you can eat at the buffet without your dress being uncomfortable afterwards, lol! Because the voile I chose is extremely thin and transparent, I opted to line the bodice and first tier. Adding a lining not only provided modesty but also gave the delicate fabric a bit more stability, especially around the neckline and button placket. A helpful tip when sewing a lining into a lightweight bodice is to treat the lining and the main fabric as one. I sewed the bodice as you would for a lined bodice, and the first tier I sewed the pieces together with a basting stitch to make the process...

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