Made by a Fabricista: Spring Style Essentials

Is there anything more versatile for your Spring wardrobe than a T-Shirt Dress and a classic button-up blouse? In this Fabric Mart Fabricista blog, I'm going to show you how these two little wardrobe staples can be rotated through your spring me-made wardrobe for 5 different and fun looks!

I was browsing the Fabric Mart website when this lovely 100% Cotton Parchment/Black Striped Jersey Knit Fabric popped up. I’ve been itching to make a T-Shirt dress with the Rebecca Page T-Shirt Dress pattern ever since the pattern launched back in February. As I continued to browse the Fabric Mart website, I was struck by the most lovely Blossom Pink Silk Shantung Shirting that I knew would be perfect for a Grainline Studios Archer Button-Up! As the wheels started turning, I realized that the cotton jersey paired with the silk shantung shirting fabric would be a match made in heaven for my me-made wardrobe. So naturally, I had to get both fabrics plus the Archer Button-Up pattern!

I was not disappointed when my Fabric Mart order arrived! The 100% Cotton Striped Jersey Knit Fabric was wonderful because it had a bit of weight to it and was not see-thru or too clingy. I should have bought more of this fabric in different colors while it was still available because it was just so nice! The silk shantung shirting also didn’t disappoint! The color was just as beautiful in person as it was online and I knew my spring fabric dreams were coming true.

The Rebecca Page T-Shirt Dress pattern was a dream to sew and came together really quickly. The pattern comes with a bunch of options for length, neckline, and style but I chose to make the straight fit, crew neck, knee-length option for my T-Shirt Dress. I had concerns that the straight fit pattern option could end up looking like a body-con dress, which if you know me, you know I’d never wear out in public. To my pleasant surprise, the pattern and the fabric worked perfectly together to create a straight A-line dress silhouette without any of the clinginess that I hate!

The Archer Button-Up pattern is definitely my favorite button-up shirt pattern that I’ve ever made. I decided to make option B with the lovely back pleats in order to give this shirt an extra chic element (as if Silk Shantung isn’t chic enough!) What I love about this pattern is the fit! While it is semi-fitted in the bust area, it is flowy in the waist and sleeve which is exactly what you want in a Button-Up!

Armed with my new wonderfully fitting me-made items, I was now ready to dive into making the most of these sews for spring! Below, I’ll share 5 different looks that I made with my new Rebecca Page T-Shirt Dress and my Grainline Archer Button-up blouse. I’m only sharing my top 5 looks with you, but there were countless others I considered sharing as well! For these top 5 looks, I only had to supplement the T-Shirt Dress and Button-Up Blouse staples with a few extra items that can easily be found in the average closet.

Special thanks to my friend Tiya Steffy from Tiya M Photography for being so willing to help me capture pictures of my makes and for being so patient during my million wardrobe changes! You brought my wardrobe to life!

Look 1: Casual Saturday

RP T-Shirt Dress, Rifle Paper Co Keds, Kate Spade Crossbody Purse

Look 2: Work From Home

Silk Shantung Archer Button-Up, White Camisole, Dark Denim Skinny Jeans, Leopard Print Ballet Flats

Look 3: Work Meeting

RP T-Shirt Dress, Nude Pumps, Black Sweater Blazer, Dark Grey Pencil Skirt, Trench Coat

Look 4: Holiday Gathering

RP T-Shirt Dress, Denim Seamwork Zinnia Skirt, Kate Spade Crossbody Purse, Black Block Heeled Sandals

Look 5: Sunday Brunch

RP T-Shirt Dress, Silk Shantung Archer Button-up, Black Block Heeled Sandals

I hope you were inspired to make your own little T-Shirt Dress and Button-Up for your essential spring wardrobe using delightful Fabric Mart fabrics! Until next time, keep following my sewing journey @shaina_sews and Mainstreetsewingco.com!

SHAINA | @shaina_sews

Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories:
COTTON KNITS, JERSEY KNITS, SILK, & SHIRTING
Plus you can shop our collection of Grainline Studio Patterns HERE.

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

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog