Made By A Fabricista: Stripes For Spring

Hi everyone!

It’s finally warming up here in southeastern Pennsylvania and I wanted to make a light, flowy dress for springtime. I snagged a vintage Laura Ashley pattern from Joanns on one of my last trips there. I somehow didn’t have anything in my pattern stash with a sweetheart neckline, so I thought it would be a good addition. The pattern calls for a giant gathered skirt, so I knew I would need something lightweight and drapey for it. Something like a pink striped cotton fine seersucker.

The fabric is light and has a really nice drape, almost like a challis. I knew it would gather beautifully. I got to work cutting everything out, with help from my assistant.

When I say the skirt is massive I mean it. I ran into an issue right away where my fabric isn't wide enough to cut the back panel without opening the fabric out. And my three yards of fabric wasn’t enough to cut two back panels. I ran into this issue last year when making my pinafore dress. In that instance I pieced the missing width of fabric. I also could have shortened the skirt. However I got lucky and the fabric was still in stock, so I snagged an extra yard and got the full skirt out of it. This skirt deserves all the length and volume!

The rest of the dress sewed up nicely. I lined the dress with a white challis fabric from my stash, and decided to add a lining to the skirt as well, just cutting out a smaller gathered skirt and tucking the raw edge into the bodice lining with the outer fabric. Since neither fabric had much weight and I kept the lining gathering to a minimum it didn’t add much bulk to the waist seam.

The dress has an interesting overlapping design in the back that was fun to put together. And these wonderfully oversized patch pockets on the front. They hold my phone no problem but be warned, they will snag on passing doorknobs!

I’m looking forward to sewing up more cute and flowy garments for the spring and summer season! I’m also picking up a serger this weekend, so stay tuned for my foray into knits!

KAYLA | @nebulanovem

Made By A Fabricista: Three Methods to Explore Colorblocking

Hey sewing friends! As I pondered what sort of plan to tackle for my next wintry project, a new and glorious array of rainbow Polartec fabrics filled the Fabric Mart site. I’ve enjoyed sewing with this brand’s fabrics for many years now, and I’m all too happy to add some more to my wardrobe. I picked two of my favorite types, the Power Air Grid Double Knit and the Power Grid Fleece. Choosing a few colors in matching weights to combine them into something totally me sounded perfect. Look at this stunning heap! When I’m sewing two different fabrics together, I prefer to use the same weight and type so that they behave similarly and hang well together. Any extra piecing like this also creates topstitching opportunities galore! (You already know I’m all about that available thread matching.) In this case, I opted for three colors in each of the two fabric varieties I mentioned above for the best combining results. I figured I’d dive in with a brief overview of how y...

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Made By A Fabricista: Coat Sewing Chronicles

Sewing a coat is not for the faint of heart, or for the sewist looking for a light project. It is possibly the slowest form of apparel sewing that exists. If you’ve made a coat, chances are, you know what I mean. No matter what you do, you can’t rush through it, you can’t skip steps or cut corners, you just have to roll with the punches. One minute you’re flying through assembly thinking “I’ll be finished soon,” and the next you’re running away from your sewing room because you need space. Are you guaranteed to end up with a bespoke wonder in your coat closet, most definitely! But heed my warning, if you are looking for a quick win, it is not a coat! My coat sewing chronicles began around Christmas when I fell in love with a black-and-white basketweave wool-coating fabric on the Fabric Mart website. I quickly placed an order for 3.75 yards to finally make the Seamwork Bay coat I’ve been dreaming of making for a while. In addition to my Fabric Mart wool, I also ordered Kasha Satin...

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