Made By A Fabricista: Fall Wardrobe Ideas for Girls

Happy Fall Ya’ll! This month I was inspired to create outfits for my girls with fabrics giving fall vibes. My eldest landed on the orange polkadot jersey, and I couldn’t resist the beautiful burgundy floral challis for my youngest. With my $50 budget, I purchased four different fabrics for four garments, and I just love how they all came together! 

My eldest recently turned thirteen and has decided she only wears pants and tops, thank you very much. I selected a nylon Ponte to make a pair of Jalie Renee Ponte Pants, and aside from the fact they don’t have pockets, she’s a big fan! Renee is a really easy sew and the darts in the back, along with the elasticized waist, make them easy to fit. With all the holiday dinners coming up, these pants are the ones you need for feasting comfortably! Being a double knit, Ponte is an easy knit to sew as it’s fairly stable. If you’re new to sewing with knits, Ponte is a great place to start! 

I thought my daughter would like a loose fitting top, so I decided on the FREE Jalie Emilie. This one actually has a roll neck but I knew my kid would hate pulling it over her head, so following the suggestion of another maker, I simply skipped attaching the collar, turned the raw edge under 1/4 inch and top stitched. The cotton Lycra gives it a slightly boxy look. Fabric Mart has so many great knits that would be perfect with this pattern - between the sweater knits, rayon Lycras, and jerseys, you have tons of options! I’m definitely thinking of making a few of these for me! (Like all Jalie patterns, each one includes both kid and adult sizes).

In contrast, my youngest has been requesting more dresses - yay! I don’t really love sewing with challis, but I just couldn’t resist this beautiful print! I decided to use the Peony Patterns Yarrow Dress, which is a wrap style dress with ruffles, sleeveless and mid-length sleeve options, and cute ties for closures rather than buttons or zippers. I chose to skip all the ruffles as I felt my daughter may have had opinions about them! The dress is easy to sew, and my daughter is really happy with it. I also added inseam pockets to the skirt, but forgot to give my daughter a heads up on that before we took photos! Following the instructions, I stay stitched the bias front before assembling the dress, but I did find it was a little wavy after I finished it. Being a bit lazy, I skipped using my old-faithful, SewKeysE Tape. Lesson? Don’t be me. Use the tape! If you’re working with bias edges on rayon, this tape is a MUST! 

I really love the Jalie Charlotte cardigan and I’ve made it many times! The cropped version is a staple, especially for pairing with dresses. It’s a little bit tricky to sew as assembling the corners of the waistband and top stitching the button placket is a little fiddly. I decided to save myself some time by skipping the buttons on this one. I may add them later, but so far Miss 8 has not complained. The wool-cotton-modal jersey knit worked really well for this pattern, and I love the color of it - I know it will go with many outfits! 

Thanks for encouraging me with my projects this year! I hope this one has inspired you to create something new and affordable either for you or the kids in your life! 

NATASHA  | @auschicksews