Fabric Mart Fabricistas

2013 is coming to an end and I can't help but think about how far our blog has come! I look back at a similar post we had from the end of 2012 and those posts feel like they were so long ago! We've grown in so many ways. The blog is about a year and a half old and I can't believe the following we have! We have written over 100 posts offering you ideas, inspiration, entertainment and so much more! So with 2013 winding down, I thought it would be fun to pick my top 10 posts. (These are not in any particular order. They are actually in order from oldest to newest posts.) 1.  Plaid Winter Coat Sew Along - I'm probably bias to this post just because it is one of my posts! I (Julie) shared with you a sew along on my process in making a plaid peacoat. This was my first attempt at a coat, and I'm quite proud of how it turned out!  2) All the Guest Posts - I love tutorials and many of the tutorials we had this year were from our viewers! There are so many...

Meet Shannon from Shanni Loves ! She was the winner of the Fabricista Fashion Challenge which wrapped up back in November. After some time to take a breather, she is back and ready to blog with us! We are really looking forward to working with Shannon. We have a lot of great ideas and inspiration to share with you in 2014.  We had a Q&A session with Shannon and also asked if she would share her sewing room with us. What is your day job?  I work at an area hospital as a Financial Analyst. I analyze a lot of numbers, prepare a lot of statistics and even get to play with money sometimes. What is your dream job? I’ve always dreamed about having my own business. I tell my husband every Wednesday when they draw the lottery numbers that if we ever win I’m opening up a fabric shop. Keep your fingers crossed for me! What do you sew in your sewing room? Since the Fabricista Challenge, word is out on the streets that I sew. So I’ve bee...

2014 for is just around the corner and we are gearing up for the new year! With a new year comes new ideas, projects and a lot of fun! We'd like some feedback from our customers.  What do you want to see on our blog? Do you have a specific topic you would like us to talk about? Do you have a pattern that you would like us to review? Would you like to contribute to our blog? How can we inspire and offer advice to the sewing community?  We have some ideas up our sleeves but would love to hear from you! Leave a comment with your ideas and we will take them into consideration.  If you would like to contribute to the blog, please email fabricmartblog[at]gmail[dot]com with your ideas.

Did you know that Fabric Mart and Crafty Gemini have teamed up to bring you tutorials featuring some of our products? Crafty Gemini, aka Vanessa Wilson, is a blogger who streams sewing, cooking and craft tutorials on You Tube. She recently won an award for "Best Tutorials" from Craftsy.  Recently, Vanessa made some iPad/ Tablet Sleeves from our Faux Suede . This is a perfect gift idea and is super easy! We have a nice selection of faux suede fabrics on our website, including solids, animal prints and more. Plus, for a limited time, we are offering a $5.00 discount coupon toward any fabric in the faux suede category. Use coupon code TABLET at checkout. You must have a fabric from the faux suede category in your cart to receive the discount.  Check out Crafty Gemini's Tutorials now! Check out all of Crafty Gemini's tutorials, her blog and more now!

I finished my jacket! I kept working until I was finished, there was no stopping! I am really happy with the way it turned out. You know what I love most about it? The top-stitching! Almost every single seam on this jacket is top-stitched, which I love and hate. I love it because it creates a really finished look. I hate it because if the jacket does not fit correctly, then you have to take not only the seam apart, but the top-stitching. Thankfully I only had to do that at the shoulder seams because it was a little bulkier than I preferred. I also really liked the princess seams. Not only is it a casual jacket, but it is a little more flattering than your average fleece jacket or hoodie. So how did I finish it? After sewing the side seams onto the front pieces, I put together the sleeve pieces. The jacket has dolman sleeve look. The sleeve is made from four different pieces, which are top-stitched.  I sewed the front shoulder to the top of the sleeve, ...

Progress on my track jacket has been going really well. I'm thinking this project could take an afternoon to whip up, but because I'm sewing for an hour here, an hour there, it's taking a little longer. I was interested in seeing how the pockets on this jacket were sewn. This is the first time I've done a welt pocket, so I thought I would share it with you. The pattern piece that you are going to sew the pocket to is the front piece. It looks like this: Taking the welt pattern piece, fold the welt in half lengthwise, zig-zag along raw edge. I found that the fleece knit stretch pretty good when doing this. I would recommend to not stretch it so that it does not pull at the front piece after sewing. Stay-stitch around the pocket opening. Pin the welt to the pocket opening, right sides together. Sew along the long edge, making sure to sew next to your zig-zag stitch. You don't want the zig zag to show on your finished pocket! Pin ends of the welt to the ...

A few weeks ago, one of our suppliers came in with some fleece samples. I have to admit, fleece does not excite me but when I saw this fleece-backed knit, I fell. in. love. I never thought I would fall in love with fleece, of all things, but this was such nice quality and I loved the knit/fleece combo. I was so excited about starting this project that I went home that night and I searched through my pattern stash and many pattern websites until I found the perfect pattern for this fleece. I came across Jalie Pattern #2795 , a zip-front jacket and hoodie. I loved the ready-to-wear look of the pattern. I find that jackets like this tend to be really oversized by other pattern companies, and I did not want that. Since this was my first Jalie Pattern, I glanced through Pattern Review to see if anyone else used it. It got good reviews and everyone seemed to looked great in their jacket! I didn't have any local sources for purchasing the pattern, so I ordered it from an eBay store. S...

Congratulations, Shannon! She won $25.00 a month for one year to spend on fabric at Fabric Mart (worth $300!) Plus! She will become a Fabricista on our blog, posting once a month and receive a Julie's Picks Membership! Second Place:  Congratulations, Diane! She won a $100 Gift Certificate and a Julie's Picks Membership.  Third   Place:  Congratulations, Kathy! She won a $50 Gift Certificate and Julie's Picks Membership. Thank you to all of our participants!  We cannot thank you enough for all of your hard work and creativity in our challenge. It has been such a hard decision! Everyone was so wonderful! Visit the blog on Saturday to join Julie in a jacket sew-along using our cozy polar fleece!

This is it! The final week! Before we get on to the final challenge, we have to thank many people: - All 10 of our contestants--- We obviously couldn't have done it without them! They were an amazing group of talented women who devoted a lot of their sewing time to this challenge! We cannot thank them enough! - Our Viewers - We hope the viewers had as much fun as we did seeing what the contestants made each week. Thank you for your votes, comments and support! - To our employees - A group of ladies who work in our store assisted in the second part of the voting process. Some with a lot of sewing experience, some without any sewing experience, but they took it very seriously. We thank them for taking some time out of their busy schedule to assist in the voting process. Being that this was our first challenge like this, we learned a lot along the way and we appreciate everyone's patience. One of the hardest things was to send someone home. We wish everyone could win! W...