Made By A Fabricista: Hooray for Cozy Fall Sews!

Greetings, all! I am in such high spirits with the best-of-all-seasons just beginning and change is finally in the air. I always rejoice when the sweatiest time of the year passes and we can all take a deep breath and gear up for cozier times. 

Neighborhood Patterns is a new-to-me designer, and I came across them on Instagram in late summer and fell in love with the Plain Jane Skirt. This is such a simple A-line skirt, but with nice details like large inseam pockets and an optional drawstring, and though I’m sure I could draft this style myself, the appeal of having it all done for me was too tempting to pass up. A sew such as this is a lovely palate-cleanser and this was the first project I sewed after returning from a cross-country trip. Perfect!

The gorgeous plaid flannel is exactly what I want to be wearing in the fall. The fabric is SO soft and a pleasure to snuggle up in. Because flannel does not have much body and is prone to stretching or shifting with all its mechanical give, I used my most beloved fusible knit interfacing on both the waistband pieces and along the wide hem facings. The extra support helps to hold the hem out just a tad (like a very lightweight version of horsehair stay tape) and adds a touch of structure to the wide A-line shape. 

I’m hoping this fabric and pattern pairing doesn’t give off Catholic school girl vibes, but I find that a maxi skirt is just so striking in plaid! Kind of unexpected and totally seasonable. I ordered a little bit extra yardage so I could successfully plaid match the side seams, and I ended up with an unexpected leftover piece since this plaid has a rather narrow repeat. 

With my bonus scrap, I sewed a Scenic Tee with the short sleeves by Twig & Tale. I created a neckline facing since my scraps were pretty minimal to make bias tape to finish the neckline, and I love how this looks topstitched. 

To add a little fun, I used a thread that wasn’t the expected gray or black, but the beautiful teal from the plaid. Might as well show off the topstitching! I have to laugh because surely no one but me is noticing wee details like this, but it’s how I delight and amuse myself. 

I needed a cozy winter-ready top for the outfit, and I had a pretty difficult time narrowing down what I wanted despite having this squishy sweater knit all lined up. I actually chose to finish the whole skirt first and try on a few options from my closet before deciding. The winner is the Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks Sweater!  I cut this length right between cropped and ultra cropped. 

Here again the fab knit interfacing came to the rescue for the snappy split hem band. I double checked to ensure I arranged the interfacing so the most stretch worked with the fabric, but the stability made those corners so nice and sharp and pretty effortless. 

I finished my sweater using the high neckline for the most coverage in the cold. Because sweater knits often get quite narrow when stretched, especially bands, I cut this neckband extra wide (around 2.25”). I also removed a small amount of width from the cuff because of how stretchy this knit is and I didn’t want them to fit too loosely, but still allow for easy pushing-up. 

Wearing a sweater and long, warm skirt after a hot blazing season is just delicious! Hunker down and sew some cozy pieces of your own, asap. 

KATIE  | @kak513

---

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