Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: More Spring Sewing

Hi all!  I have spring fever so bad right now that I simply had to make more separates for the upcoming weather change.  I found these lovely fabrics to make something from.  Sometimes when I order fabric, I know exactly what I am going to make and other times, I literally have either too many ideas or none.  This was the latter.  Although, I loved both choices and knew I’d love the finished product and my prediction was correct!



 I really love this evergreen color right now and this floral chiffon caught my eye!  That color!  Plus, looking at various spring garments for purchase online, they are all so pretty, floral, and floaty so I knew this would end up in my cart.  I just had to bring it home with me.  



It washed, dried, and behaved beautifully.  I chose a very unstructured, simple garment for the design.  Chiffon isn’t hard to sew, but I wanted a simple design to show off this lovely fabric.





While this particular fabric seems to be sold out, there are some lovely choices you can see here: Chiffon

If you’ve never sewn with chiffon before, here are a few tips that I find really helpful.  I use those plastic, sewing binder clips to attach the fabric to my cutting board.  This way it doesn’t shift around so much.  Then I use pattern weights which for me are very large washers my husband purchased at a local hardware store.  If you have a very sharp blade in your rotary cutter, cutting is a breeze.


For needles, I am quite the stickler and use a fresh needle for every project and this is especially important with this type of fabric.  I also use a 60/8 needle and a polyester thread.  If you are interested, here is the pattern I used: 

Image result for mccalls kimono pattern

I deviated from the pattern quite a bit.  

Just as an added sort of precaution, I stay-stitch every seam that has any sort of curve to it when I sew with a lightweight fabric such as chiffon.  The front of this kimono had curved seams as well as the back neckband.



I deviated from the pattern and made bias front bands.  I used a 2.5” ruler and rotary to cut the bias strips, seamed them together and used a liquid starch as I pressed them with the wrong sides together.  Then I basted the seams and then serged the edges.  After serging, I topstitched the bands in place.
To hem this, I simply serged the bottom edge, pressed well using starch and turned twice and then topstitched.  I know, there are numerous ways to make a narrow hem but I didn’t want it that narrow.  Plus, since I serged the other seams, I didn’t want to fuss with a very narrow hem at the bottom when it wouldn’t match throughout.



For this white top, I have to start by saying how lovely this crepe fabric is.  Unfortunately, this is sold out but here are some alternate choices: Crepe

It has just the right amount of stretch to make it comfortable and it was a pleasure to sew.  I don’t think you can ever have too many basic white tops and I just know this will get used frequently.



You don’t need any special techniques or supplies for this fabric.  It was a very fast sew and I just love these two pieces together.


Thanks so much for reading and I hope you are as excited about warm weather as I am!

Sue from Ilove2sew!

Comments

  1. Your makes are always an inspiration to me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What pattern did you use for the white top? That topper is amazing, and I do love the fabric and color combination. Very complementary for your coloring too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: FROM FABRIC TO FASHION: - The Saguaro Set with Fabric Mart Fabric

The weather in Southwest Florida is finally starting to warm up.  With the warm air and bright sunshine, I have been thinking about refreshing my “at home” wardrobe with some fun easy pieces this year.     I have wanted to make The Saguaro Set for some time now.   When I saw the beautiful selection of rayon challis on the Fabric Mart website, I knew now was the perfect time to get it started.   THE FABRIC I researched a lot to see which fabric would work the best for this pattern.   I chose the Deep Amaranth Pink 100% Rayon Twill Challis for my project.    It is a beautiful color that to me looks more coral. The fabric is light to medium weight and has beautiful drape.  The care instructions said gentle wash or hand wash.   I prewashed the fabric in cold water on the delicate cycle.  However, after drying it on the delicate cycle, the fabric had an almost vintage distressed look.   I was a bit co...

Made By A Fabricista: Revisiting a Pattern After Five Years

Have you ever used a sewing pattern and then immediately vowed never to sew it again? Well, I have. It all began in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic lockdown. I tackled sewing projects that were more challenging to help me grow as a seamstress. There was one pattern in particular that almost did me in, the Seamwork Penny shirt dress. The Penny dress pattern has a classic button-up dress shirt style bodice with a gathered skirt and pockets. It is a beautiful take on a shirt dress, and my sister and I loved it. The only downside is that it was recommended for intermediate-level sewists and I was only an adventurous beginner back then.  I think I had only ever made one button-up shirt before attempting this Penny Dress and it didn’t even have a collar! Despite all of this, I thought “Why not try it, what’s the worst that can happen?”  Thankfully the worst didn’t happen, and the dress turned out surprisingly wearable, but I had some intense frustration at the end. I...

Made By A Fabricista: A Simple Frock for Spring

Hello friends! I’m really into sewing and wearing tent dresses at the moment. A tent dress is basically a wide A-line style gown. For this month’s project, I’ve opted to try out The Assembly Line’s Square Neck Dress. This style is a little avant-garde in its enormity and shape, and boasts the squared neckline it’s named after, plus some cute hem side slits.  All that volume is fun to move around in, plus there’s loads of air circulation which is cooling. This dress’s main feature–its wide and high squared neckline–really piqued my interest recently, and I added it to my Make Nine plans for 2025. I find it so satisfying to check off those boxes as I sew!  This beautiful shirtweight linen is a color I simply adore; a muted medium blue. Stormy skies, worn-in denim, and ocean waves all come to mind, and that is exactly what I want to be all wrapped up in. While I think a wild or large print would be amazingly on display in this big canvas of a dress, I also thought that a subtle ...