Made by a Fabricista: Rediscovering Flannel

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, a little over an hour from Seattle. I was a teenager when grunge was king and everyone was wearing flannel. Everyone but me apparently, because I honestly cannot remember owning more than handful of flannel clothes in my lifetime.

That extends to sewing as well. I almost never sew with it except for pajamas or non-garment items. However, I was perusing the Fabric Mart website one afternoon and came upon this beautiful floral cotton flannel. My love for floral is deep and well documented, so immediately I had visions of a soft and cozy blouse that I could wear in our damp, chilly late winter and early spring.

Folks, I am a convert! Why oh why did I avoid wearing flannel for so long? This blouse is a dream! First of all, the fabric is gorgeously soft and not too heavy. Second, I can now wear my beloved florals and stay cozy even in the early days of spring when I want to feel light and cheery despite the cold weather.

I made the Carme Blouse by French designer Pauline Alice. I'm a little obsessed with pintucks at the moment so the bib on this blouse had me hooked right away. The pintucks are time consuming but so worth the effort. It also has a neat little placket and sleeve tabs for rolling up your cuffs. It's definitely designed with the rolled cuff in mind, but on the 40 degree day that I took photos I really appreciated the long sleeves.

If you're intrigued by French patterns this a great place to start. The instructions are available in French, English, and Spanish and the PDF pattern pieces can be printed on US Letter (many French patterns only print on A4 which can present a challenge to us American sewists). The instructions are a bit sparse, but luckily the designer offers a sew-along on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulineGuillet/featured) that I found extremely helpful. I think it would be a great pattern for the adventurous intermediate sewist looking to expand their skill set.

I made a size 40 and the only made a few minor changes. I cut the sleeve slit binding on the bias because I find it eases in and lays a little neater. Also, made a facing for the hem since I had exactly zero desire to hem those curves. I finished it off with some seriously gorgeous vintage mother of pearl buttons that matched the green in the fabric perfectly.

Because I'm a little extra I decided to use the bit of flannel I had leftover with some pink stretch corduroy from my stash (also from Fabric Mart) to sew up a pair of Ash Jeans from Megan Neilson patterns. Now my pockets are as cozy cute on the inside as my top is on the outside. They are VERY pink pants but I think they go perfect with my blouse so I'm going with it. Bring on Spring!!

KRISHA | @buttercupthreads

Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics in the following categories:
FLANNEL & COTTON

Made By A Fabricista: Why Sew A Muslin

Here it is, my September blog post featuring Newlook N6692 and this pretty rayon challis from Fabric Mart! This pattern style is so in right now. The square neckline, cute puff sleeves and the tiered skirt are all exactly what I was looking for in a summer dress. As always I started with making a muslin first! Let’s get into why it’s important to start with a muslin. A muslin is basically a practice garment. It prevents you from cutting into your good fabric prematurely. I usually use a muslin fabric (natural cotton) but you should also consider using a fabric that is the same weight as your fashion fabric. This will give you a truer gauge of how the garment is going to lay in the final fabric. Anytime I try out a new pattern company I make a muslin. This was my first time using a Newlook pattern so I need to know what the ease would be like for this pattern. Also I need to see how the bust would fit me and where I would need to make adjustments. Plus there were some new techniques

Made By A Fabricista: The Love of Sewing - Basic Pieces for a Beginner

Happy Friday All! It has been a while since I made myself a dress. I am excited to sew after not making anything since my last post (whew) and finally sharing some photos. This past summer has been a roller coaster journey with plans to release a small collection and then deciding that right before the launch to postpone. Sewing has brought me joy over the past 8 years and the mere fact to sew daily for orders had me in a panic mode. I really don’t want to walk away from my craft due to burn out and decided that if I do sew for others, it would be only for local clients. Moreover, If next year I decide to launch, it would be seasonal and not year round. I really want to share my talent and love for sewing with others but don’t want it to be a full time job and lose the passion in me. After a bit of soul searching, teaching and sharing my talent with my community will always be my first love. For the past 2 summers, I was blessed to partner with two nonprofit organizations’ local sum

Made By A Fabricista: End of Summer

Summer is nearing to an end but here where I am in Texas the heat isn’t letting up any time soon! I still have plenty of time to get a few more summer looks out of the way. In this blog I will be sharing two separate projects. The first project is this denim set; I had the inspiration saved on my list of makes to make. For this project I got this gorgeous denim and matching thread to start my project. Yes, Fabric Mart will match the thread to your fabric perfectly and with my favorite thread brand Gutermann. The denim had a very great weight and wasn’t too stiff. It was very starchy when it arrived, so I did a prewash before working with it. I’m so glad I did because it had a lot of dye saturated in which would not have been great for the skin and other clothes. For the first part of the set, I drafted a corset with the scallop edge cups, such a cute detail! To start I used my bodice sloper to make the corset, I was not worried about the design details and focused more on

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