Made by a Fabricista: Fast Sews and Cool Summer Fabrics

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing a few things made with my favorite summer fabrics - cotton, linen and rayon - and as an added bonus these are all super quick sews.

Each of these projects took me no more than 2-3 hours to sew. My house gets too hot to sew some summer days, so projects I can whip up quickly are great for that limited amount of time that I have.

The first two items I made up as a set, but of course they can also be worn as separates.

The top is the I Am Patterns Gaia tank made with a stunningly gorgeous cotton challis. Call me naive but I had no idea cotton challis was even an option! I'd only ever seen challis in rayon. This cotton though is simply a dream to work with, and if you run across it I highly suggest snagging some.

The top is a simple V-neck with a facing but what makes it special are the gathers at the shoulder, made by simply adding a bit of ribbon or fabric in a tube. The combination of this pattern with this light cotton fabric is the perfect wardrobe staple for these last weeks of summer.

To go with it I picked up this green linen which I thought went nicely with the bits of green my other fabric. From it, I made the Helen's Closet Winslow culottes. Folks, I am fully on the culottes train now. All the comfort of shorts and pants, all the look of a skirt. This pattern in particular sews up super fast for a pair of pants. I decided to do french seams since I didn't have matching serger thread and even with that and installing the invisible zipper it only took three hours of sewing to have these gorgeous pants.

And of course linen, we all love linen. Breezy and breathable. Gets more comfortable as you wear it. Wrinkles if you just look at it. Embrace the wrinkle people!

Pro-tip: when ordering from Fabric Mart there is a little box underneath your items in the cart that says “add matching thread” and it is so handy. With it, you get a very affordable spool of perfectly matched thread. I failed to account for the thread color when I ordered this fabric and had the hardest time matching it. Learn from my mistakes.

The last thing I sewed was a simple gathered dress made from this very sweet floral and paisley striped rayon jersey. I used the Sophie Hines Axis tank as my base and added a simple gathered skirt. The axis tank is one of my most used patterns - I have half a dozen or so that I rotate between every day as workout tanks – so I knew I would feel confident in it.

Since this fabric has plenty of vertical and horizontal stretch, I was able to rotate the fabric for the bodice. I added a cotton lycra lining to the bodice to add stability and prevent it from stretching out from the weight of the skirt. Rayon jersey is a thin fabric it but can get weighed down rather fast as you add length to it.

So there you have it. Two looks made up of three garments in my favorite summer fabrics. Happy sewing everyone!

KRISHA | @buttercupthreads

Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics in the following categories: CHALLIS, LINEN, & JERSEY KNITS.

Made by a Fabricista: What's Black and Gold with Chevron All Over? This DIY Pant Suit, That's What!

Hope you're having a Golden day, get it? [I crack myself up sometimes!] This DIY pant suit is golden for sure. So tell me this, were you one of the lucky ones who were able to grab some of this fabric when Fabric Mart posted their new arrivals? I jumped on it so fast it was crazy and before you know it "poof" it was gone. So sorry I don't have any links to this fabric but all is not lost, you can use something else for these patterns. Try looking in the suiting selection for the blazer. The other awesome option is denim and as always check the New Arrivals. I went to my "tnt" blazer pattern for this project because I knew the metallic bias around the edges would look fab and I was on a mission to make another pair of mimi g's jeans and trim the seams in metallic bias as well. I recommend both of these patterns to any level sewist. I did a little pattern hack on the blazer pockets to make them a little more interesting and I made a pic...

Made By A Fabricista: The Skirt that Brought my Sewjo Back

I know it can’t just be me. My sewjo has gone away and I’ve been having such a hard time trying to get it back. I remember the days when I used to sew every single day without fail and now, not so much. I think about sewing and all the things I’d love to make, but I just haven’t found the motivation. I kind of know what the issue is. I started a new job last October and ever since I started, I’ve been sewing less and less and I don’t like it! Well, in comes Simplicity S3237. Summertime is here and it’s time to bring out all the skirts. Simplicity recently released S3237 as part of their summer patterns. This skirt is a full, gathered skirt with a bias-cut yoke with side seam pockets and an invisible back zipper. The skirt comes in 3 different lengths – mini, midi and maxi. I decided to make View B which is the midi length. I’m not much of a maxi length kind of girl and that mini was a little too small for me. I sewed up a size 22 with a few modifications. Let’s talk about th...

Made By A Fabricista: Summery Stripes Set

Warm weather and linen go hand in hand! Our summer has been slow to show up with the heat, but bright, sunny afternoons have me all ready for light, swingy garments to stay cool. Wearing matching sets has been one way to make getting dressed easier when I hit decision fatigue since reaching for two items that already go together removes the need to plan or do any rearranging. This is a lovely lighter-end-of-mid-weight linen in the most beautiful and subtle seaglass hues of grays and greens. This color combo strikes me as so calm and sophisticated, and a little stripe-play is perfect for details. My tank pattern is the brand-spankin’ new Matchy Matchy Sewing Club Sunny Side Tank, just released this week. It’s a perfect little cropped A-line shape for wearing with high waisted pants or showing some midriff. I made no changes to the extra small. The wide neckline is so elegant and this shape still gives full bra coverage to boot. These really cute pants are the Mat...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog