Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Spring is everywhere you look! Full winter jackets and thick sweaters are no longer daily wardrobe requirements, and new spring fabrics are blooming at Fabric Mart! Every Spring, I try to make myself a new dress to celebrate the turn of the seasons, but this year I had a grand sewing plan to make 5 new spring garments. It all started one day while browsing the Fabric Mart website. I saw an adorable cotton veggie print shirting fabric and envisioned it becoming a special little button-up shirt for my son to wear on Easter. The cotton veggie print shirting reminded me of the Peter Rabbit stories I used to read as a child and then all of a sudden I got carried away with my ideas. My initial idea grew into a mother-and-son outfit coordination idea with button-up shirts and ended with an entire family outfit coordination plan. I ordered 2.75 yards of the cotton veggie print shirting fabric to make two button-up shirts and a tie. Most sane people would have stopped there with the matching sh

I usually end my posts with a thankful message. Today, I’ll start with it: this time, my gratitude goes to my husband. Short of sewing and modeling this outfit for me, he did everything else. Most importantly, he made sure I got started! Let me explain. My creative juices have dried out in the last few weeks. They say it takes a village to raise a child. I’ll say that once a child is around, it takes a village to do anything. Between work, viruses, and a little one that needs your eyes, ears, and hands at their disposal 24/7, there is not much brain space or energy left.  For weeks, I had scrolled through the Fabric Mart website and blog almost daily. The New Arrivals section indeed reveals new materials EVERY DAY! I was looking for a spark, trying to find the fabric, and then being inspired to do a project. But days went by, and nothing popped up. In comes the husband:  HIM: Can you sew something for work? ME: No… I have everything I need…  HIM: Ok. What about making an outfit for th

  We are continuing to recognize all of the wonderful employees that make Fabric Mart so amazing... If you've shopped inside our retail store you've probably have met the person in today's employee spotlight! Everyone say hello to Isabelle!  Who are you? Tell us a little bit about yourself. My name is Isabelle. I’m 21 years old. I work in the store at the Fabric Mart. How long have you worked at Fabric Mart? I’ve been working at the Fabric Mart for about 2 and a half years. What are your main responsibilities? What do you do? My main responsibilities involve working with customers in the retail store. I answer customer questions, help them find things, and check them out when they’re ready to buy something. I also work to keep the store tidy, and I help fulfill online orders when I can.  What’s your favorite thing about working at Fabric Mart? I enjoy being able to help customers find the right materials for projects that they have planned. I think it’s cool getting to see

Hello, sewing friends! I’m looking forward to sundress weather, full of floaty fabrics and pretty pastels. I was highly inspired by all the splendid springtime prints on the site, and I had loads of fun scrolling through the lengthy challis listings to find a few outstanding floral prints to combine into one bold and (hopefully) cohesive dress. Stuff like this gets me a little giddy, creating all the options and groundwork for something magnificent. I really think the fun of plotting and planning is the main reason I sew for myself; all the possibilities are wonderful to consider.  I chose to create a Chalk & Notch Marcel Dress in the midi length (there are also a mini dress and tank length included in the pattern). Marcel is a marvelous pattern for color blocking due to all those gathered tiers. Having sewn a few Marcels over the years, I will happily attest that this dress feels wonderful to wear with all that voluminous fabric swishing about.  This is a loose and billowing pat

Just in case you are not aware, the iconic Diane Fustenberg wrap dress has turned 50 this year.  In celebration, Vogue has re-released the DVF Wrap Dress pattern, which now comes in extended sizes.  This dress is so classic and fits many different body types.  I got a hold of this pattern and decided this would be my birthday dress this year. This pattern is categorized as a Very Easy Vogue pattern, and I would have to agree with that. Wrap dresses are usually relatively simple to put together since there aren’t that many pattern pieces to sew together. I made View A in a size 22 and the only modification I made was to shorten the hem by 6 inches.  I will say that since I used a Ponte Knit , I could have gone down to a size 20.  I didn’t read the fabric suggestions before picking my fabric.  I’ve always remembered seeing the DVF Wrap dress in knits. After reviewing the fabric suggestions, they do say that you can use soft fabrics, like a Challis or a Chambray. As I mentioned, I’ve alwa