Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: From Paper Dresses to Ponte Knits!

Image
By

We love sharing posts written by sewers in every aspect of their sewing venture. Whether you're just starting out or have been doing it for years, everyone can relate because we've all been there! We are excited to share them because we know they will inspire someone else to make the move into sewing.

 Allison, one of our website assistants, has had fashion and sewing in her blood from an early age. She agreed to share with us her interest from childhood to today, when she created her first sewing project since high school! Thank you Allison for sharing your story with our readers!
~Hi, this is Allison. I work at Fabric Mart working on putting new fabrics on the website. After being surrounded by fabric all day I felt compelled to sew something! This project is my first foray into garment sewing. 

I have always been a creative person but not so much of a garment sewer. Recently, I found a picture from when I was 5 years old where I created (with some help from my mom!) a paper outfit for my doll. I was thinking about fashion way back then. In high school, I spent a lot of time sewing tote bags from recycled materials, like the one below made from a vintage suit jacket.

The Paper Dress That Started it All!

One of the Tote Bags I Made About 10 Years Ago.

I wanted to make an A-line skirt from a stretchy fabric. I Googled "Ponte Knit A-line skirt" and came across the blog SEWN. They feature a post on making New Look 6035 with a ponte knit -- check it out here. The pattern calls for a woven, so it's good to take a look at this post beforehand! 

I modified the pattern by leaving out the zipper and adding an elastic waistband. This was my first time working with ponte knit. It sews surprisingly easy. I used a ball point needle and a stretch zig-zag stitch. The most difficult part was cutting out the pattern in the correct direction of the grain so the skirt stretches with the body. I also folded the waistband the wrong direction and had to take it out and re-sew it before putting the elastic in.



I really enjoyed this project. I realized that making a skirt was not as intimidating as I thought and that ponte knits are really great for beginning sewers. I definitely plan to make this pattern again in other colors!

 Thanks Allison for sharing your story! If you would like to share your sewing story with us, email fabricmartblog@gmail.com.

Comments

  1. SEWNNovember 9, 2014 at 9:24 PM

    Your skirt looks great! Thanks for the shout out. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Revisiting a Pattern After Five Years

By
Have you ever used a sewing pattern and then immediately vowed never to sew it again? Well, I have. It all began in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic lockdown. I tackled sewing projects that were more challenging to help me grow as a seamstress. There was one pattern in particular that almost did me in, the Seamwork Penny shirt dress. The Penny dress pattern has a classic button-up dress shirt style bodice with a gathered skirt and pockets. It is a beautiful take on a shirt dress, and my sister and I loved it. The only downside is that it was recommended for intermediate-level sewists and I was only an adventurous beginner back then.  I think I had only ever made one button-up shirt before attempting this Penny Dress and it didn’t even have a collar! Despite all of this, I thought “Why not try it, what’s the worst that can happen?”  Thankfully the worst didn’t happen, and the dress turned out surprisingly wearable, but I had some intense frustration at the end. I...
8 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: A Simple Frock for Spring

By
Hello friends! I’m really into sewing and wearing tent dresses at the moment. A tent dress is basically a wide A-line style gown. For this month’s project, I’ve opted to try out The Assembly Line’s Square Neck Dress. This style is a little avant-garde in its enormity and shape, and boasts the squared neckline it’s named after, plus some cute hem side slits.  All that volume is fun to move around in, plus there’s loads of air circulation which is cooling. This dress’s main feature–its wide and high squared neckline–really piqued my interest recently, and I added it to my Make Nine plans for 2025. I find it so satisfying to check off those boxes as I sew!  This beautiful shirtweight linen is a color I simply adore; a muted medium blue. Stormy skies, worn-in denim, and ocean waves all come to mind, and that is exactly what I want to be all wrapped up in. While I think a wild or large print would be amazingly on display in this big canvas of a dress, I also thought that a subtle ...
2 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: Bold Aspen Dress for Spring

By
 As I write this in mid-April, central New Jersey weather is showing small signs of spring. My neighbor’s daffodils are blooming and our magnolia tree is trying to unfold its vibrant magenta petals. I am in the midst of preparing my wardrobe for the warmer months, even if we are still huddling against windy 30 degree days. For me, warm weather means linen. I love breathable, floaty linen sundresses and drapey, loose linen wide-leg pants. My vision for a spring piece was something bold and bright, inspired by the natural colors of blooming flowers, but also something that could transition well between the warmer and cooler months. When I saw Fabric Godmother’s Apsen Dress, I knew that it had the sensible transitional opportunities I was looking for while also providing a blank canvas for fun prints, patterns and colors. With the pattern in mind, I then turned to the stunning linen collection that Fabric Mart always has on hand to see what colors or patterns would best suit my visio...
1 comment
Continue Reading »