Made by a Fabricista: Dia at the Apple Orchard

Hey lovely folks! Nice to see ya again, and I'm so excited we are finally to my favorite season of the year: FALL!

This Autumn has been a bit different with the COVID factor, but we were still able to make it to our favorite orchard for some apple picking in our fabulous Misusu Dia sweatshirts (and Jalie 2918, more on that in a bit!)

The black fabric is a super luscious modal blend sweatshirting that has unfortunately sold out (check out some other great options here). The way it looks on the backside and with it's drape it's almost more of a very brushed french terry than a sweatshirting in my mind, but it's still dang awesome. It's so soft and awesome that I worry a bit it may not wear well, but inside and out it is absolutely delightful now.

Misusu Dia (available in both Kids and Ladies versions) is a great pattern that has a ton of options: sweatshirt or tunic with a straight or hi low hem, plus straight or puff sleeve for kids and 3 different ladies sleeve lengths. I used the straight sweater with regular sleeves for Cheeks, the straight tunic with puff sleeves for Peaches and the hi-lo sweater with long sleeves for myself.

I finished the sweatshirts for the kids and myself and then thought...Daddy needs to get in on this, too. Misusu doesn't have men's patterns, so I drafted my own Dia Dad out of Jalie 2918. Bonus for him: I used the v-neck option (Mr. 5 doesn't dig crew necks).

I decided to only piece the front, instead of also altering the back to swoop around the side seam like it does in Dia proper, so it's not quite as cool, but I was tapped out after the (albeit simple) patternmaking work I'd already done. I'm really pleased with the result! Only thing I may have done differently would be to move the diamond an 1/2 - 1" higher.

And here's the result!

For the diamond innards (and neckband/wrist cuffs for Cheeks' sweatshirt) I used a wonderful mottled gray cotton lycra jersey and a great feeling ivory modal blend french terry (also both sold out, but the latter was available until last weekend). A ponte or double knit would be a great sub for either.

Along with the many silhouette options in Dia, there's also the option to make a pieced diamond, as I did for the kiddos and myself, or you can just cut a one piece simple diamond (or use it as a base for applique, as I did here!).

I'd seen a hack to make a fox from a creative sewist in Misusu's Facebook group and decided that's what my kiddos needed! The ears are just two of the small triangles sewn together and then folded over part way and sewn into the seam. They didn't end up totally symmetrical, but a kind friend reminded me that animal ears are often floppy and asymmetrical. :) I also spent a bit of time deciding on eyes...and you can see which of these won out!

Cheeks says they're skunks. OK, sure, I've got nothing better. Haha.

We had a pretty great afternoon picking apples in our new superbly comfortable shirts.

I really love how all of these turned out and am anticipating we're all going to get lots of wear out of these awesome sweatshirts!

Made By A Fabricista: Bold Aspen Dress for Spring

As I write this in mid-April, central New Jersey weather is showing small signs of spring. My neighbor’s daffodils are blooming and our magnolia tree is trying to unfold its vibrant magenta petals. I am in the midst of preparing my wardrobe for the warmer months, even if we are still huddling against windy 30 degree days. For me, warm weather means linen. I love breathable, floaty linen sundresses and drapey, loose linen wide-leg pants. My vision for a spring piece was something bold and bright, inspired by the natural colors of blooming flowers, but also something that could transition well between the warmer and cooler months. When I saw Fabric Godmother’s Apsen Dress, I knew that it had the sensible transitional opportunities I was looking for while also providing a blank canvas for fun prints, patterns and colors. With the pattern in mind, I then turned to the stunning linen collection that Fabric Mart always has on hand to see what colors or patterns would best suit my visio...

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 ...

Made By A Fabricista: Celebrating warm weather with Spring sewing!

Hi sewing friends! I don’t know about you but boy, was winter cold and dreary this year! The weather here in the Philadelphia area has been slowly improving, but Spring sure did take her sweet old time to arrive. So by April, I was definitely in the headspace of needing to sew up things that were either bright and cheery or meant for the warmer weather I am very much craving right now. I recently purchased a few SewBexx Patterns so I took them on a test run to create some Spring makes. First on my list was to make a top using this absolutely gorgeous ITY fabric I picked up last year. I had two yards which was enough for a long sleeve shirt. I chose the Olivia top, which is oversized with a drop shoulder, has multiple lengths and a split hem. I think the pattern is intended for heavier fabrics but I was envisioning how lovely this top would look with the drape of ITY knit fabric, and it did not disappoint. It came together for me quickly and was a straight forward sew…and I love the br...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog