Made By A Fabricista: A Berry Bold Suit – Scallops and Wide Legs for Fall

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon from Sharon Sews back with a fabulous Fabricista make for fall. I fell in love with the color of this stretch suiting and couldn’t wait to sew myself something to wear as the weather starts to cool off.

Before I share about my jacket and pants, can we have a moment to appreciate this “Jazzberry Jam” color? It brings to mind strolling through my local farmer’s market, filling my tote (handmade of course!) with fresh produce, and then baking seasonal goodies, something I love to do when the weather turns crisp. Of course, I’m not wearing my suit for that outing!

The fabric is a designer polyester/rayon/lycra mid-weight stretch suiting that has a lovely drape and a wonderfully soft feel. I ordered it with a jacket and pants in mind, but honestly, it would have also been stunning sewn into a vest, skirt, dress, or even a lightweight coat or cape. It’s such a versatile fabric.

I ordered matching thread from Fabric Mart, a feature I really appreciate as I can’t always find the color I need locally. For interfacing, I used Palmer/Pletsch PerfectFuse Medium, which is a rayon/poly fusible weft interfacing. You do need to preshrink it, so follow the instructions before applying it to your garment pieces. I used a universal 80/12 sewing machine needle.

The pattern I used for my jacket is the Style Arc Delphine Woven Jacket, a pattern I’ve sewn twice before. In fact, one version was a Fabricista make using Bengaline fabric.

This time I choose the jacket with the scallop front detail. Apparently, I’m still on a scallop kick, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon as I think they add a playful, whimsical touch. Just a few months ago I mentioned scallops having a fashion moment, when I decided to add them to the ruffle pants in my last Fabricista project!

Since this is one of my TNT (tried and true) patterns, all the fitting alterations and construction details were already worked out, which made the sewing process go smoothly. The only change I made was to add shoulder pads. The pattern doesn’t call for them, but I like the little bit of structure they provide in the shoulder area, and the small pad works well with my body shape.

For closures, I pulled some round silver and gold tone buttons from my stash. They give off a bit of a 90’s vibe, which makes sense, since I probably bought them back then, haha! I may swap them out later, but for now they work. Besides, I usually wear my jackets unbuttoned anyway.

The pants are another TNT pattern, the Style Arc Fifi Woven Pants. They have a wide front flat band, with elastic in the side front and back, large front slant pockets and wide legs. Just wide enough to show off the flowy drape of the fabric when I walk.

A few days after I received this suiting fabric, I spotted an ITY knit at Fabric Mart with “Jazzberry Jam” listed as one of the colors. I bet you can guess what happened next! Yep, I quickly ordered it to sew a simple T-shirt for those times when I want a more casual look with the pants. There are a multitude of T-Shirt patterns to choose from, and mine is the Itch to Stitch Kashi Tee pattern.

Of the two pieces, I suspect I’ll wear the pants the most as they are so versatile! Where I live, this time of year we wake up to cool fall weather only to have hot and humid summer weather by noon. The other day I paired my new pants with a sleeveless top and added a long denim jacket (another Fabricista make – blog post here) that I removed once it got hot, hot, hot.

Having a matching jacket and pants means I can wear them together as a suit or pair each separately with other items from my closet for added versatility.

If you’ve enjoyed my Fabricista posts, come find me on YouTube and Instagram for even more sewing fun and inspiration.

Until next time, Happy Sewing!

SHARON | @thesharonsews

Made By A Fabricista: From Paris with Love!

Bonjour! I am still in bliss from my recent trip to Paris!! It was much more than I expected and I absolutely fell in love with the city. I can honestly see myself living there one day. I knew before leaving I wanted to make something to fit into the Parisian landscape because I knew it would be a special opportunity. I was inspired by one of my favorite fashion creators Juliette Foxx. Her checked gingham corset and wide leg pants were on my list to remake. For fabric I used this red and white pin stripe denim twill and deep red sateen for the pants. The pattern I used for the corset was McCall’s #M8182 with a few modifications. The fit was a little large so I took it in along the sides and shoulder seam. I then lowered the neckline since the shoulders were taken in. I used the sateen as my lining which gave a great contrast. My pants are my unreleased pattern which happens to be exact from the inspiration. I drafted these last year and have been wo...

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing Summery ITY

Hi sewing friends! I’m dropping in to share a few makes sewn with ITY fabrics and inspire you to try out this slinky, cool-to-the-touch fabric for hot weather if you haven’t yet, or to recommend some patterns that work fabulously if you already love it. This is by far my favorite knit to wear in summer. Since it moves easily there’s lots of airflow, and it just skims the body. More often than not, it has a four-way stretch that doesn’t grow when worn, so it works great for loads of styles. ITY stands for Interlock Twist Yarn and the knit gives it some wonderful drape and stretch. There are lots of different weights and even some differing textures. Because it’s so fluid, the fabric really resists most wrinkling. I’ve sewn three different weights and prints here to show off just what ITY can do! This white floral is a lighter weight and features a slightly crepe-textured finish, and I think that combined with the large and spread-out floral makes it quite elegant and eye-cat...

Made By A Fabricista: Fall Sewing with a Fabric Fave

Hello sewing friends! It’s usually around this time in late summer when I start to get excited about Fall sewing, and here we are! One of my favorite types of fabric for the colder months is Double-knits - specifically Liverpool . So today I’m very excited to share my love of this amazing fabric plus two new pieces I just added to my wardrobe. So let’s talk fabric! Liverpool is a member of the Double-knit family – fabrics that are constructed using two needles which creates a double-layer of fabric. They have less stretch than classic knits but they have really nice structure and are a joy to sew. Liverpool has a textured surface – often bubble or crepe-like – and is usually medium weight. And then bullet fabric is a kind of Liverpool fabric that often has a finer and softer weave. To be honest, I really can’t tell the difference most of the time, so I just call it all Liverpool. 😊 I LOVE Liverpool knit for pants, dresses, structured skirts and jackets. Fabric Mart always ...

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