Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Howdy, you lovely Fabric Mart folks! First things first:  Happy happy birthday to my hubby , who is having a significant birthday today.  :D  He's not the subject of this post, but you will see his lower legs and feet later.  ;) Now, let me tell you a story a little story about this Polartec Power Dry.  I'd seen so many wonderful technical fabrics around throughout the internet and was so curious:  power dry, power stretch, power wool, there were so many!  When I happened upon this lovely Ocean Teal Polartec Power Dry I knew it was time for me to finally try one of these magical fabrics.  Unfortunately this is sold out now, but the closest you can find would be these Polartec activewear fabrics . Shopping online can be a little difficult, because you never know exactly what you'll get, but I was very pleased to receive this beefy yet drapey and sleek, super stretchy and totally opaque fabric.  This was a fabric driven project, where I just knew wanted to use this p

I went very bright for my last make so I decided to tone it down with a neutral this month. Navy is a neutral that I lack in my wardrobe as I default to black often so I'm trying to remedy that. The first is a very soft jersey knit with uneven stripes and the second is truly a luxurious wool stretch twill. My plan was to sew a coordinating outfit, but as soon as the fabric arrived I realized that all navy blues aren't created equal. Unfortunately, the two blues were just too different to work together. This was totally my fault as the wool twill description literally states "the darkest navy". Still I love both fabrics so I sewed my original plans, it just seems that these two pieces won't be worn together. Thankfully, I recently purchased this RTW light weight sweater that is a better match to the twill. Not the best lighting, but trust me they are different. Let me first tell you about the wool twill suiting, as I am in love with it! Some stretch is

Hey there and happy New Year! This new year has started off so busy, but also so good! In 2019 I didn't sew nearly as much as I usually do, and if January is any indicator to how much I'll sew in 2020, it's going to be a sewing packed year! I'm excited to share my first two sews of 2020, a pair of Ginger Jeans and another Willamette top. The last time I sewed ginger jeans , I sewed three pairs all at once...yikes! You can read a bit about those jeans here . Then I was set...I didn't need any more skinny jeans for quite a while, actually two years exactly!!! Well, those jeans have either worn out, or don't fit me anymore, so it was time for a new pair. In December I looked around at the Fabric Mart website and found some Japanese denim that was in stock and grabbed a couple yards. (This fabric isn't available anymore, but denim is always popping up in the Fabric Mart shop!) I also grabbed a jeans hardware kit , which is so helpful to have th

Happy Saturday Loves!  I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and a great start to the New Year!  I really did NOT do any sewing as planned during the last week of 2019 and this first week of 2020.  I pretty much spent the break relaxing, sleeping and working with my Cricut machine. Honestly, I did NOT feel guilty as I sewed more than 52 items in 2019.  I could NOT believe how many items I made after I tallied up the garments.  2020 will be a slow sew year as I am focusing on more crafting and building specific sewing skills such as couture design and coat making. My first make of 2020 is " The Erica Dress ," an indie pattern collaboration with  Erica Bunker  and  Style Sew Me Patterns .    When the pattern was released, I knew it was a must make as I fell in love with the open back, the sleeves, and the side slit.  I requested this  beautiful designer Boysenberry Rayon/Nylon/Lycra Ponte knit  the minute it was posted on Fabric Mart.  If you know me personally, t

For my January post, I knew I wanted a pretty sweater in one of FM's fabulous sweater knits.  I love all the colors in this sweater knit shown below.   As I write this, it appears this gorgeous knit is sold out.  But, there are some nice choices you can see here:  Sweater Knit Fabrics I take just a few precautions when sewing sweater knits.  Don't worry, they are easy!   I always stabilize the back shoulder seam and back neckline.  There are many products on the market.  This is basically fusible interfacing cut in 1/2" strips.  Test your fabric prior to putting an iron on it.  This knit withstood some nice steam and also a bit of heat which made is so easy to work with.   If you are interested, here is the pattern I used from StyleArc.   This is the Brooklyn top. I knew I wanted a simple pattern to show off this beautiful fabric.  This went together easily and quickly.   Just look at the drape of that neckline!  Now, l