Made By A Fabricista: Suited Up

Welcome to my August post, friends!

By now I think you all know I love to give myself a good challenge project – usually one that involves a difficult fabric. Thankfully this month I chose to use an easier to work with fabric to cut myself a break… but I chose a beast of a project. Are you surprised? I’m not! 😊

I have been a little burnt out on sewing projects for myself lately and was having a really hard time coming up with an idea for this post, so I decided to sew for someone else.

Who would be the recipient of my latest make? My partner. I decided to make a suit, to be specific…yikes!

To start, I picked my outer fabrics from Fabric Mart – a deep navy-blue pinstripe wool blend suiting. I chose this when it was 70% off to get the most bang for my buck. It washed up beautifully and sewed up even better! My partner picked his lining fabric and for a guy who likes black, dark black, darker black and blackest black, I was shocked he picked his fun floral silky print fabric! I used two patterns I had hidden deep in my stash, McCall M7987 and Simplicity S8962.

I love how clean and sharp the edges came out. This is the hem of the sleeve and the vent, doesn’t that floral print look amazing with the navy color?

The pant pattern had the option of a slim leg or a straight leg and even though I went with the slim leg, I still needed to take the leg in quite a bit to get the fit he likes.

We also needed to do quite a few adjustments for his broad shoulders and quads as well to get just the right fit. He also didn’t like the patch pockets on the blazer as called for by the pattern, or the patch pockets on the pants as called for – so I hacked in some welt/flap pockets on the blazer and welt pockets on the pants. It took some engineering and finessing, but I got there!

Have I mentioned I like tough projects lately?

By day, he is a tech consultant so these pieces individually will serve him well on client meetings and while traveling. We also have another wedding this year, and hopefully this makes the cut as his outfit!

Overall, I love the result of this project and my picky client gave high praise! The fabric pressed beautifully, the inside is a fun pop of print and I gotta say, the model is really selling this make for me!

CHELSEA | @thatssewchelsea

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

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Made By A Fabricista: Just Wear It Out!

Originally I wasn’t happy with my make this time around. I put it on fresh off the sewing machine and didn’t love how it fit. My elastic was slightly too narrow for what the pattern called for. I did end up putting a stitch to close up the v-neck on the top. I thought my sewing on the waistband looked sloppy and I looked kind of frumpy in the outfit. I was going to put the project down to fix later but decided to wear it out for some feedback from our web manager and one of the describers. I ended up pleasantly surprised! The fabric is super comfortable and I felt really good wearing it. All the things I didn’t like kind of melted away wearing it out. The flaws were so small that only I noticed them. I think it’s important to remember that while striving for perfect seams and flawless construction is good, a handmade garment doesn’t have to be perfect to be wearable. This isn’t the first time I’ve softened on a garment after wearing, and it certainly won’t be the last! The 100% c...

Made By A Fabricista: Spring Has Sprung

It’s that time of year again! It’s spring time! That means it’s flower dresses for everyone! Yes, I needed three consecutive sentences that ended in exclamation points. Lol If you didn’t know, spring is my favorite time of year because it means my birthday is coming. Last year I chose to make a dress for my birthday and I loved it. I probably should have made something for my birthday again this year, but this fabric was calling my name. I wish there was more of this fabric so we could be fabric twins, but it’s sold out. The fabric I chose for my make is a dark imperial blue floral print challis . Again, it’s sold out, but I bet if you wait a little bit the challis will go on sale. I loved this fabric the minute I saw it because blue is my favorite color and I love a good floral print. Also, it’s screaming springtime! This fabric washes and dries really well. I pulled it right out of the dryer and folded it right up until it was time to cut into it. I didn’...

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