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: 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...

Help Our Buyers Shop!

Comment on this post with what you are looking for right now and our buyers will seek it out! I am craving wool gabardines and ponte knits in fun autumn colors. What about you?

Made By A Fabricista: Surgery, a pattern hack, and a hemming tip.

Hello sewing friends! I’m here on the blog today sharing a pattern hack I recently did to boost my wardrobe with a few pieces to wear during my recovery from surgery…and I’m also sharing a tip for those pesky rounded hems. So let’s jump in! I recently had surgery on my neck due to issues with my parathyroid glands. All went to plan and I’m doing well, but I have to admit, the scar was a bit larger and more prominent than I expected. I definitely want to cover it up a bit during the healing process, and I realized that I own very few tops that cover that area of my neck. I don’t really love wearing high neck tops, so I came up with the idea to sew a top that I could convert back to my preferred style once I recover. The pattern I used to do this is the Laundry Day Tee from Love Notions. This pattern is a fan favorite in the sewing community and has been around for more than ten years. I love the style – fitted at the bust but with extra swing at the waist, with lots of sleeve and n...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog