Fabric Mart Fabricistas

With summer finally here, I wanted to update my skirt wardrobe. I have been wanting to make Pamela's Patterns Favorite Bias Skirt for a long time and I finally did it! I was inspired to make this by Pamela herself because she was wearing this skirt made from linen during a visit. I have to admit I'm not keen on linen because of it's wrinkle factor, but thought this was my opportunity to give it a try!  I chose a printed linen that was in Julie's Picks a few months back. Anyone else have this fabric?! I love the design. And when you put it on the bias it looks even crazier!  If you have the same fear of linen that I do, you may want to consider a linen blend fabric. Linen can be blended with many different contents, but one I see more often than not is linen/cotton or linen/rayon blends. Bunch up the fabric in your hand. Does it create a lot of wrinkles that do not seem to come out very quickly? Or do the wrinkle go away somewhat gracefully? If the w

This week's featured pattern designer is Pamela Leggett from Pamela's Patterns. I have bee very fortunate to work with Pamela for the past three years selling her wholesale fabrics for Steve's Sewing and Vacuum (you will read about that below!) I've even been in her fabulous studio! Threads Magazine featured her sewing room about a year ago and let me tell you, it is a gorgeous as the photos show! Enjoy learning a little bit about Pamela and her journey through the industry.  Tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in Michigan where both my grandmothers and mom did many types of handcrafts:  sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, weaving, beading.  My mom was a great teacher and encouraged my love of sewing.  I actually started earning money with my sewing skills at age 14!  I’ve had many types of jobs, all related to sewing, design, teaching and business.  Hands-on work was my “college”.  I’ve been teaching since 1981, and it is my true passion.  I love wo

If you read my review on " A Right to Bare Arms " , a sleeveless top by Dana Marie Designs , you will see that I talk a lot about the collar. The pattern comes with directions on how to make the collar with a bias collar and a non-bias collar.  On my first attempt at this top, shown below,  I made the collar from a black ponte knit. I chose the ponte knit because I didn't want to mix a knit with woven. I also didn't have any solid wovens in my stash, so I opted for the black ponte thinking it would have enough stability. Putting a knit on bias is not a smart choice. (I should have known better!) Here are some close-ups of my issue... I really should have used the non-bias method if I wanted to use the ponte knit.  I decided to make another top, but this time using a woven for the collar and cut it out from the non-bias method. Here were the results:  Much better don't you think? I also top-stitched the collar to give it more str

To go along with the recent post, In the Studio with Dana Marie Designs , I selected one of her patterns to try out! I selected A Right to Bare Arms, a sleeveless yoke styled design that can be cut to three different lengths (tunic, knee and calf.) It has princess seams for a flattering fit and a slightly flared hem. I've seen this pattern made up many times and I'm not only going to share with you the two items I made from this pattern, but many other variations of this pattern using different fabrics! I love when a pattern can be used with a wide variety of fabrics because  you're going to get something a little different every time! The first design I made about a year ago. I used a rayon jersey knit from Fabric Mart (sorry, not available anymore) for the bodice and a ponte knit for the collar. The pattern calls for stretch knits as well as cotton, rayon or any other woven fabric with nice drape. It is important to note that the pattern comes with two diffe

If you read my post about Summer Sewing Projects , I plan on sewing basics for my wardrobe, things I can wear everyday! I also like trying to highlight the many pattern lines we carry on our website. So one evening I was thinking about new ideas for the blog and I decided to do a series of interview and review posts about the Indie Pattern Designer's lines that we carry! So not only am I building my wardrobe, but showing how you can do it too with Fabric Mart fabric AND our line of patterns! This week's featured pattern designer is Dana Bontrager from Dana Marie Designs . I have worked with Dana for a few years now, providing her with fabric for the International Textile Expo Fashion Show. The International Textile Expo is a wholesale fabric show where designers, manufacturers and fabric stores source fabric, trims, buttons and other finds.  Dana graciously volunteered to be the first designer to be highlighted! It worked great because I was working on one of her patterns to

Hello there!  I don't know about over in your neck of the woods, but here in Indiana it's been raining cats and dogs for the past couple of weeks.  I've been anxiously waiting for the weather to let up so I could get pictures of my next make for the Fabricista blog, The Victoria Blazer. The pattern is By Hand London's Victoria Blazer that was released last year in their Spring/Summer collection.  It's a casual blazer with 3/4 length sleeves that have french seamed cuffs so you can wear them up or down.  The jacket variations are full length, cropped and sleeveless.  The design is casual and laid back so there is a generous amount of ease which makes for a very easy fit. The pattern calls for a light to medium weight woven fabric with some body such as cotton, linen, chambray, denim, tweed, etc.  Ponte or double knits are also goo d options.  I used a slightly stretchy vertical striped cotton sateen from Julie's Picks last month.  I like