Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Remember Diane from Gatorbunny Sews ? She was one of our contestants in the Fabricista Fashion Challenge. She loved being challenged and blogging so much that she asked if she could guest blog periodically. Of course I said yes! I love being able to share ideas and inspiration with our readers and it's even better to have help from other bloggers! Thanks Diane! It's always been a little taboo to mix knits and wovens in sewing, but with the comfort of knits and the fun of wovens, I decided to break the rules and realize the best of both. I've been drooling over this top from my Pinterest board for quite a while and I used it as my inspiration. I chose a super soft navy slub knit from Fabric Mart for the body of the blouse and rooted around in my scrap basket for the wovens for the yoke. (The navy slub is not available anymore, but there is a black and red slub knit available!) I chose New Look pattern 6187 , View C because it's a simple design w...

Winter time, not particularly my favorite season, but there are certain things I look forward to each year: wearing my boots, cozy sweaters and making myself sick on copious amounts of hot chocolate.  What I don't look forward to...when the cold rolls in so does my lack of motivation.  I just want to put my flannel pjs on and snuggle on the couch with a pug.  I think my lack of motivation stems from the fact I'm just not sure what to sew in the winter months.  I like chunky sweaters and lots of layers.  Not really up for sewing another dress or blouse.  A lot of sewing bloggers I follow trade in their sewing needles for knitting needles in the winter months.  They knit some of the most beautiful sweaters and I'm envious.  I've tried knitting and I just don't have the patience for it.  So I asked myself, "Can I sew a sweater?"  I did some research on the topic, bought some sweater fabric and was off on a mission to see how har...

I'm a little late in posting this, I've had the jacket done for a little while now, but finally had someone to take pictures of it for me and time to write the post. For those of you that missed two tutorials that highlight additions I made to this jacket, check out the following: Adding a Front Pocket Lining the Hood And here it is! The Minoru Jacket pattern was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed figuring out the little additions. Since this was my first Sewaholic Pattern , I was not familiar with the sizing. I made a muslin, which you can see in the "adding a front pocket" post. The sizing was closer to my RTW clothing size, ranging between a 10-12. I made size 12 for this pattern because I like to have a little extra room in jackets for the sweaters worn underneath.  Here you a can see how the pocket looks finished. I wanted to have the cute lining show through, so I created a piping effect on the top of the pockets. I also reinforced the...

One of the reasons I wanted to make the Minoru Jacket was because it had a hood. Plus I thought it was pretty cool to hide the hood in the collar! The idea to line the hood happened by accident. As I was cutting out all the pieces for the jacket, I could have sworn the pattern called for a hood to be cut out of the lining fabric. But as I was sewing, I did not see directions on how to insert it. It is super easy and adds just another RTW finish to your look! Cut out the hood in the good fabric and the lining fabric. Trim off about 1/2" around the front of the hood. Sew the hood pieces right sides together, adding top-stitching to the seam. Repeat for the lining. Press about 1 1/4" inches on the front of the hood and 1/4" of that in so you have a folded edge. Insert the lining into the hood, wrong sides together. Overlap the flap you created when pressing the 1 1/4" piece over. Top-stitch around the front of the hood and baste along the bottom of th...

I had the opportunity to take a few days off during the holidays and my top priority was to do some sewing! It felt great to get in front of my sewing machine again! I had just been serviced a week before and it sewed like a breeze. One of the patterns I wanted to try was Sewaholic's Minoru Jacket . I had Fabric Mart's Ch arcoal Organic Cotton Twill  in mind for this jacket along with a cotton print from Marc Jacobs (no longer available) and the teal pongee lining. This was my first Sewaholic pattern but was excited to give it a try. I was drawn to it because of the RTW look of this jacket. Many of the seams are top-stitched (which I love!) and elastic is inserted in the back of the jacket cinching the waist. The directions were clear and pictures easy to understand as well. The basic jacket is constructed in the first few steps, so once you have the fit, you can focus on the details that this jacket has. I made a few of my own additions including front pockets and...

This past weekend I had the chance to go to the Pennsylvania Farm Show . Always held the first week in January, it brings together farmers, small businesses and family living participants from all over the state. I have gone to local fairs for many years, but this was my first time at the PA Farm Show.  You can find everything at the farm show. There are a ton of amazing food stands selling everything from a basic hot dog, to fried mozzarella cheese cubes and even lamb stew. One of my favorites was the milkshakes, even on a 20 degree day! There were also a number of small business vendors selling their wares such as BBQ sauces, dips, fudge, maple syrup and other goodies highlighting PA agriculture. Of course you can't have a fair without the livestock, rodeos and even a butter sculpture!  My favorite part of the show was to see the handmade item entries. They have categories for a variety of baked goods, gingerbread houses, knitted items, quilts, de...