Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Hello friends.  Do you love a wrap dress?  This is Byrd, your curvy sewist and I am back with my latest Fabricista make.  The re-release of DVF Diane von Furstenberg’s Wrap Dress has everyone pulling out their favorite wrap dress patterns.  The DVF was initially released in 1974 and re-issued earlier this year.  If you love a wrap dress, you will love the Friday Pattern Company Westcliff Dress .  It is a size-inclusive beginner-friendly faux wrap dress with a tie belt that runs from XS to 4X.  My Westcliff is sewn up in Fabric Mart’s cotton lycra painterly floral knit.   Fabric Mart’s cotton lycra is perfect for a spring or summer wrap dress.  It’s lightweight and breathable with a soft drape and excellent recovery. The fabric has gorgeous light lime green, white and purple flowers set against a light gray backdrop.   The fabric is easy to cut and sew.  To keep fabric from slipping, use pins or clips as you sew together layers of fabric.  You can use a serger/overlocker, stretch stitch

Hi fellow sewists! It’s Andrea  @happy.things.here and I’m here today to talk tee shirts!  I love a good tee pattern…or two…or four. Despite having more than enough of them in my pattern collection, I’m always up for trying a new one. And I also have my favorites and tried and trues (TNTs). I love the versatility of a good tee pattern – dress it up with fancy fabrics to make a work wardrobe piece, use a high quality solid to add some basics, or anything in between. Today I’m sharing three patterns I’ve used multiple times and with many different kinds of fabrics - all a little different and all great beginner patterns too. First up is the newest addition to my pattern collection – the Upland tee and crop top by Rivet Patterns. They are a newer designer who I recently discovered when this tee pattern caught my eye. I love that it has multiple bodice options including a classic design tee and also a crop version with different separate and uniquely shaped bodice pieces. I first made the

I love attending outdoor Summer concerts! This month I wanted to make the perfect dress to wear to an outdoor Summer concert that is loose, flowy, comfortable and would be nice to wear in the south Georgia heat. I think I achieved it with the Marcel dress by Chalk and Notch in a Barbie Hot Pink Linen.  The Marcel dress is a tiered dress that has shoulder straps which comes in sizes 0-30 and 2 cup sizes. I chose to make my dress according to my high bust size and it fits slightly loose but comfortable. I made my straps tie by lengthening the strap pieces. You can make a tank, a short dress or maxi dress. I lengthened my dress by 3 inches as I am 5’10” and this dress is drafted for 5’7”. I added 1 inch (total of 3 inches) to the bottom 3 tiers, and 3 inches to the center front and center back panels. The length is perfect. The back of the dress has a very open back and should be really cool for the hot Summer weather! I can’t wait to wear it out soon!  Chalk and Notch provides a QR code

Hello friends.  My name is Byrd and I am a self-taught dopamine-loving curvy sewist.  I’m super excited to share my first Fabricista make.  This is the Named Clothing Company Ilma Smock Dress in a yummy Black/Pink/Emerald Retro Floral Print Challis.  The Ilma Smock Dress is a fun flirty off the shoulder dress with a wavy tiered hem and elasticized neckline.  There is also a top version.  Let’s get into the details. Fabric choice is everything.  Fabric Mart’s Retro Floral Challis was perfect for the Ilma Dress.  The fabric is light, soft, smooth and has a gorgeous drape.  I immediately fell in love with the print.  The vibrant bright orange, pink, green and blue set against the black background will set you apart in any setting.   The Ilma Smock Dress is officially rated as an intermediate pattern but there are no buttonholes of zippers.  I’d personally rate the pattern beginner advanced.  The instruction booklet is detailed with easy-to-follow diagrams.  The pattern is designed for a p

Hi everyone!  When I saw this floral print linen/cotton blend make it’s way onto the to-be-described table I knew I had to make a dress from it.  I’d been staring dreamily at all the dresses from the brand Son de Flor who had just put out their spring collection and thought, maybe I can throw together something inspired by them!  I grabbed three yards of that floral shirting and a yard of SWC5682w to line the bodice with.  I used Simplicity’s S8946 for its simple bodice block.  This pattern has a gathered rectangle for the skirt, but I’m a sucker for a circle skirt so that’s where I decided to start.  I folded the fabric twice and cut out the longest circle the fabric would allow.  Then got to work on the bodice, sewing up the darts and attaching everything. Now, I don’t love installing zippers.  I ha d a lot of trouble getting them to sit right, and no matter how much mental gymnastics I do when first pinning one side is always put in the wrong way.  So while I did have to unpick and