Made By A Fabricista: Breezy Summer Style with Rayon Challis from Fabric Mart.

Hey there my sewing friends! Summer is here and I am all for it. It has been exceptionally hot here in Southwest Florida. We have had temps in the high 90’s. I want to keep cool and comfortable and still look pulled together this summer. That’s why I chose rayon challis for this month’s summer make.

Rayon Challis is lightweight, flowy, soft and extremely comfortable to wear. It’s an excellent choice for summer outfits. It has a beautiful drape making it an excellent choice for maxis, tops, dresses, and shorts. The fabric is lightweight and depending upon your sewing project you may need to use a lining with this fabric. Also use a lightweight interfacing when working with rayon challis. If you are a beginner at sewing, you may find the fabric a bit fiddly to work with, but the end result is so worth it. Fabric Mart has beautiful challis fabric to choose from. I chose this fun tropical print on an off-white background.

This summer season vests are in. I love the ease of wearing a vest style top, so I chose one of my favorite patterns. New Look 6598 view E. I used self-covered buttons to elevate the look and not compete with the fun tropical print.

I paired the vest with elastic waist shorts from New Look 6737 for a fun summer short set. The challis fabric is perfect for the breezy style shorts. I love the movement and comfort of these shorts!

This set can be dressed up or down. When I wear a kitten heel shoe, I feel the outfit is perfect for a summer luncheon event or even to wear to church on a hot Sunday morning. If I’m on vacation, I can wear the two pieces with white tennis shoes as I stroll along window shopping.

With the fabric left over I made a quick wide elastic waist skirt using New Look 6354. The skirt is an easy 2 hour sew. I made view F. The skirt works with the vest beautifully.

Each piece can be mixed with other pieces in my closet. The shorts and skirt work well with tee shirts or button-up/tie front tops. The vest can be worn over a layering piece allowing for wear in cooler environments. Changing up jewelry and shoes makes it easy to transition from day to night with these fun summer pieces.

I have upcoming plans to make drawstring flowy pants and a sundress with a few other pieces of rayon challis that I recently acquired. Make sure you are following my Instagram or YouTube channel to see how they turn out. Thank you, Fabric Mart, for this fun fabric. This is my new favorite summer outfit.

CARMEN | @carmensalome

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

Made By A Fabricista: The Sheer Volume Of It All!

This garment was inspired by a dress I saw in an ad, and when I went to purchase it (which I rarely do)…I realized that the dress didn’t come in my size. Ticked off and with $300 back in my pocket, I decided to draft it myself. The description listed the fabrication as a silk cotton voile, so I used that as a starting point to recreate the simple yet elegant silhouette. My drafting experience is limited; I’ve only ever made garments that are pleated rectangles that fit into an elasticated waist. No darts, no complicated calculations, and definitely no sleeves. But I’d have that dress if it’s the last thing I do! I made a drawing, created a Pinterest board to document my inspiration, and narrowed down the features I really wanted to have: billowy bubble-hemmed bishop sleeves (say it three times fast!), a fitted and lined bodice, and a gathered tiered skirt. Finally, it was time to shop for fabric. I knew I wanted a silk blend of some kind, without breaking the bank. For weeks, I ke...

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: In Love with Linen

Linen is the best fabric to sew and wear. I selected a beautiful 100% linen from Fabric Mart that is a steel blue and cream floral linen to sew up a By Hand London Hannah Wrap Dress pattern. The flowers look like Dahlias. I originally sewed a Toile from a black and white cotton bedsheet, wore the dress a lot but never made it again. I gave the Toile away to a friend who always commented on how much she loved the dress. When I saw this fabric, I knew I wanted to make the Hannah again. Linen is so easy to sew the entire experience reminded me why linen remains one of my favorite fabrics to sew. I look for a light to medium weight European linen for a dress. I like a rayon or cotton blend with linen because it seems to have more drape and be more soft. Linen gets softer with washing and wearing it. This particular linen feels crisp and after ironing and washing, softens up. I like how Fabric Mart describes the fabrics as top, dress, blouse, shirt weight under “Use” and will describe...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog