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Showing posts from February, 2023

Made By A Fabricista: Workwear Ready

I'm excited for my first post in 2023! At the beginning of the year, I recently went back to working in person so now I am looking to make and wear pieces that I can wear to work.  The goal is to be functional but also very fashionable since I am a fashion design professor. I saw this blue denim fabric and knew I wanted to make some pants; I just wasn’t sure what kind.  I decided to make Mimi G x Simplicity S8985 View B pants.  I liked the oversized flare look, I just made one slight modification to them by adding a pintuck along the front.  This was easy to add since the waistline was called to be slightly gathered to fit.  The fabric had a hand closer to linen and was very lightweight which was great and very satisfying to sew.  I lengthened the pants by 3” and finished with a 2” hem. The top I used Simplicity S9707.  It’s an oversized partial button down top.  I decided to create a high low hem by combining two different views.   I loved the print of the fabric but honestly as s

Made By A Fabricista: Spring into 2023 with Liberty of London!

Hi Fabricista Fans! I'm excited to be back with my first FabricMart project of 2023 and my second with Liberty of London Tana Lawn ! This fabric is so luxurious and wonderful to work with, I just can't pass it up whenever I see it come on sale! With such a high thread count, Liberty of London doesn't easily crush, and although it's 100% cotton, it's so flowy that it's perfect for billowy dresses, blouses, and skirts. With my $50 budget this month, I purchased 2 yards of Tana Lawn and made a Peony Patterns Rosemary Dress with inseam pockets for my youngest daughter. This is a gorgeous button down dress with long and short puff sleeve options. After cutting it out, I realized I had plenty leftover for a skirt for my eldest, so I whipped up the FREE Peony Patterns Apple Berry Skirt for her. Since she needed a top to go with it, I raided my stash for some additional fabric, and found a lovely eggshell Fabric Mart Rayon Lycra hidden away. (Don't worry, I still ha

Made By A Fabricista: New Year, Same Me

Happy 2023 all! It’s a new year & I am back with a new Fabric Mart make. If you’re new here I am Macy & I love to make dresses (they’re my specialty). I enjoy sewing a variety of fabrics & shopping for them even more, but floral fabrics truly have my heart in a chokehold. If you’re returning visitor, thank you for coming! Today, I am sharing my brand new Simplicity 9642 make. I absolutely love this dress; I love the feel & movement of it, as well as the fabric. Fabric Mart had the most beautiful royal blue floral velour/velvet fabric & it paired perfectly with this pattern. The fabric has such beautiful flowers in the actual fabric that are: red, yellow, tans, & emerald green for the leaves. The fabric was remarkably easy to cut & sew with.  The 9642 Simplicity pattern has a fitted bodice & flared skirt. They have a variety of sleeves & lengths to choose from, but I chose View C. The sleeves have a series of pleats, which creates a “poof” like look. 

Made By A Fabricista: Liberty of London Boxy Shirt

This post is the start of my third year as a collaborator in this blog! And I still get some stage fright every time I choose a project, cut into the fabric, stitch, and unstitch… But I am grateful - and still, a little bit shocked - to be part of such a creative cohort of Fabricistas with much more experienced sewists than me! This project reminded me of what a great opportunity this is to grow and keep learning. Like all sewists, I have known Liberty of London fabrics for years. These luxury and designer fabrics are classic! But their hefty price tag and refined aura were too intimidating for me to use them. Nevertheless, on a Sunday morning in January, a Liberty of London sale on Fabric Mart made me dare to push my boundaries. I could have chosen one of the iconic floral prints the brand is known for, but this bold and colorful pattern instantly caught my eye. Its design combines all kinds of abstract leaves, stripes, and warm, popping colors. It is an “Autumn Fall” design, but I s

Made By A Fabricista: Liberty For Less

Most of you wouldn't be shocked if I told you that Fabric Mart is my favorite fabric shop. Even though I'm a Fabric Mart Fabricista, I promise I'm not biased! It is hard to beat the prices and the gorgeous stock of fabrics that Fabric Mart carries. Just when I thought Fabric Mart couldn't get any better, they started carrying Liberty of London fabric! Liberty fabric is notoriously high priced, but Fabric Mart has made it affordable! While it may still be a higher price per yard than your average fabric, it is still an amazing price for Liberty Fabric.  If you've never sewn or worn a garment made with Liberty tana lawn, then you're missing out on the softness and dreaminess of the fabric. Yes, it's 100% cotton, and yes, that doesn't seem like it would be dreamy to wear, but trust me, it is! Tana lawn is a lightweight fabric with a soft drape and a luxuriously soft finish. It makes lovely blouses, dresses, and more! The Liberty of London website sells butt

Made By A Fabricista: Puffy Sleeves, Yes Please!

Hi Guys! Happy New Year.  I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and the new year is treating you well so far.  I’ve been wanting to make the Women’s Oversized Puffy Sleeve Dress by Beaute’ J’adore ever since she released this pattern.  Nikki is known for her statement sleeves and she’s a woman after my own heart because I love a good statement sleeve too.  The sleeves on this dress are serving all the drama and I’m here for it! Puffy Sleeve Dress When I tell you that I am head over heels with this make, I mean it.  What is there not to love about an oversized dress with puffy sleeves?! Um, nothing! This dress has two sleeve options, so if you aren’t into the puffy sleeve, you can opt not to add the elastic and just add horsehair to the hem to the sleeve.  The horsehair braid gives the sleeve hem structure and makes them stand out. I went with the puffy sleeve option. Based on my body measurements, I made a size 16.  I sewed the dress following the pattern instruction and the only modifi

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing Toward Spring

Hello, all! I find it positively lovely to be back on the Fabric Mart blog in 2023 sharing more sewing projects.  This round I wanted to create an outfit to ease me back into spring. As I shiver and type this, imagining nicer weather is a very uplifting thought! But for now I’m stuck with chilly (and gusty!) weather that makes taking photographs more of a challenge. When I began working on this project, I was still swirling with holiday sewing, and while I usually have my sewing projects planned down to the T in advance, this time I was much more up in the air and just had the most cursory of ideas, so I kind of put together a little kit for myself to work with. If nothing else, seeing a beautiful little stack of fabrics and notions is very motivating.  Have you been in a constant swooning state over all the incredible Liberty of London wovens that have swept through the New Arrivals? I've, for one, have felt practically breathless poring through the huge assortment and adding a f