Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon with Sharon Sews with my latest Fabricista make – a three-piece set I can wear as the weather transitions to fall here in Texas. It may look like a summer outfit but there will days filled with sunshine and high temps well into November.  At first glance it looks like a nice, lightweight jacket, top and pants. But look closer – it’s sewn from the designer Tipsy Martini cotton sateen that was originally used by the designer for a pajama set. Now I could have sewn myself a pair of pajamas using the Closet Core Carolyn Pajama pattern (available at Fabric Mart)  and replicated the designer pajamas.  But if I had gone that route the only ones who would have seen this adorable kitschy fabric would be my family.  This print is much too cute to hide out at home.  This Tipsy Martini cotton sateen fabric was lovely to sew. I used black thread, an 80/12 universal needle, and Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Fuse Medium interfacing (link here). Note...

Summer is so close I can taste it! With hot weather on the way, I need to get my sleeveless wardrobe up to date and stocked. I love to pair a breezy tank with shorts, and nothing is easier than throwing on a simple dress and heading out the door to drop off kids at camp or cruise to the beach. When the heat is up, the easier for me to get dressed the better.  With this in mind, I chose to add more woven tanks to my closet. They are cool to wear and not clingy like a knit top can often be. I looked through the ever-growing pattern section of the site, and the dartless aspect of the Megan Nielsen Eucalypt Tank was especially appealing to me.   No darts makes this a rather quick sewing project. The color blocking instructions are great, plus a basic tank is endlessly hackable and thus incredibly useful. I sewed a quick muslin, and then cropped it several inches with a straight hem, and that version is stylish and easy to wear, so there you go! Hack one done.  I wanted ...

Hi all! Today I’m sharing my last blog post of the year as a Fabric Mart Fabricista, which features my first Holiday Dress of the season!  Fabric Selection  This Holiday Dress was made with Fabric Mart’s Strawberry and Navy 100% Cotton Polka Dot Sateen Shirting . That is a mouthful; however, the description of this fabric is spot on! This fabric have a smooth hand with a slightly stiff drape, and falls away from the body!  The best feature of this fabric, in my opinion, is the slight sheen and the light and dark contrast of the print. I’m a lover of polka dots, so working with this fabric was a treat! Although I found myself pressing the fabric quite often, it wasn’t burdensome because the wrinkles fell away at first contact with the iron.  Pattern Selection  The Cashmerette Roseclair Dress pattern was a perfect choice for this fabric. Since the pattern calls for light-medium weight fabrics such as cotton, linen, rayon, and double gauze, I was certain this 100%...

Hello again and happy July!  In April, I started sewing a work wardrobe in red and black, and I decided to expand that work wardrobe to include blue and white.  I just love the combination of blue and white especially in the summer!  For my work wardrobe, I want fabrics that do not wrinkle easily, can be laundered, and can mix and match with other fabrics.   I ordered several coordinating fabrics- a white ponte , a blue chiffon print , a blue geometric crepe de chine, and a blue double weave suiting .  Most of these are still available as I write this, but are in the 60-70% off categories, so if you like any, I would order soon! Have you ever used a Burda Style pattern magazine?  I used to always subscribe the Burda Plus magazine which is for larger sizes, but they stopped making it in English and I stopped my subscription.  I missed it so much, that I took a chance and ordered it in French directly from France on burdastyle.fr .  It...

Hello Fabricista's!  I hope that the change of seasons has inspired you to sew lately.  I always love the onset of fall since it is my favorite season.  Although it is still very hot in Georgia I am hoping that a cool down is just around the corner.  For my post this month I was hoping to branch out of my typical silhouette and sew something exciting and different.  I wanted to sew a pattern that had interesting details with a fabric that was easy to handle and so I settled on Simplicity 8791 with this bright red seersucker .  This top really stands out in my closet since I don't have anything with sleeves like it.  While I can say that it is definitely a deviation from my usual style I am still somewhat undecided about it. First of all the fit was challenging, I ended up moving the dart around and shortening the length.  I also added a snap to the center front to battle the deep gaping.  The dart turned out fair but the added snap pulls...