Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: Summer Stretch Knits & Performance Wear

Hello Gems! Although Summer hasn't officially started, I think the weather speaks for itself. My wardrobe is officially declaring Summer and embracing comfortable easy wear vibes. So of course, my closet wouldn't be complete without Summer stretch knit pieces.

For Fabric Mart's June Fabricista Feature I'm sharing two stretch knit looks that I can get into this Summer. From outdoor activities to Summer hot girl looks. I definitely have to have options.  

My first look is an Athleisure wear look! I used Fabric Mart activewear/performance fabric in  a yellow tie dye print to pull off this look. This was my first experience creating athletic wear and I love the way it turned out. I used a Simplicity Pattern 8392 for the top and bottom. I adjusted the top and added a thicker bottom band and side vents in the lining so that I can add bra cups to the inside for extra support.  

This fabric gives great stretch and recovery. I was most concerned with the translucency of the fabric after the garment was made. This can be a common issue with activewear fabrics when you're trying not to bare it all, but it definitely held up on the opaque test on its own.


A big part of athletic wear are the seam finishings and topstitching. I used a similar setting on my Bernina 590 to get a similar effect at the seams and the top stitching at the side pocket. This is a step you don't want to miss when creating athletic wear. It gives a more professional look and it also adds strength to your seams so your activewear lasts longer through all your activities. I also created a simple cropped mesh T shirt to pair as a cover up option for this look.

For my second look, I chose an ITY stretch knit in Leo print. This is a 4 way stretch fabric. Its very drapey and has great coverage. This type of fabric makes comfortable knit wear for anytime of the year. 

I used McCall's 8649 pattern for the skirt and constructed an easy wrap top to pair with it. I'm not a big fan of elastic waistbands but the way this knit skirt pattern is constructed, the elastic waistband is covered giving you a flat yoke and a smooth front band too. The skirt gives fluid movement and wearing ease which is always a plus. 


I used a basic cropped T shirt pattern by Simplicity 8301 to make my top. I sliced the front bodice down the middle and extended the sides measuring from the middle of the bust and across to the opposite side. I created ties to add to the ends and left an opening in one side seam to feed the ties through. 

Love the final touches on this look and the chic comfortable vibes it gives. I used Mettler elastic thread on both of my looks which helped me stitch this stretch knit with ease. 

Until Next Time

MARCIA  @keechiibstyle 


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: ACTIVEWEAR & ITY KNITS.

Comments

  1. Both looks are great.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Both are nice looks onyou; you did a great job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. both looks are good on you; you did a great job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Two great accomplishments.

    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: 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