Made by a Fabricista: Spring Sewing with Fabricista Diane

I'm so happy to be back this month on the Fabric Mart blog with my first spring projects, simple and lightweight black pants and a flowy and sophisticated print top.

Inspiration for sewing comes from everywhere and I'm thrilled (like everyone else) that I no longer have to organize stacks of torn out pages from catalogs and magazines but now can save anything that inspires me to my "I Wanna Make This" board on Pinterest, no papers, no mess. And this outfit today is inspired by one of those pins.

The top is McCall's 7093, a brand new tunic pattern with different color block variations. I made View A (without the slits) in this geometric viscose print from Fabric Mart.

The top is a quick and easy sew and the only changes I made were omitting the slits in the front, taking in the sides 1/2", and adding black bias trim to the neck. I used the wrong side of a black silk charmeuse I had in my stash. It can be tricky to get bias trim to be even and I've found that if I ditch the pattern piece and make a free cut, I can have even binding. Here's how I do it:

Cut strips of bias at least 1" longer and 1" wider than the neckline pattern piece.

Fold fabric in half lengthwise and press.

Using a ruler and rotary cutter. Cut the folded bias strip down to the desired width (see photo).

Cut bias same length as the pattern piece and add markings.

Yay! Even bias strips = Even neckline trim.

I'm sure I will end up making this McCall's pattern over and over. I always want to wear leggings but never have the right top to go over them. Finally, I found the perfect blouse for leggings... longer in the back and shorter in the front.

The pants are from one of my "Tried and True" (TNT) patterns, Simplicity 1696. Now, of all of my TNT pattern types, a pant pattern is most cherished. A good fitting pair of pants is really hard to come by.

I've made these pants many times before, all with different variations, and this time I used this lightweight cotton twill from Fabric Mart , deleted the slash pocket and added 4" to the length. I ended up with a classic pair of pants that fill a gaping hole in my wardrobe.

Spring has sprung and I couldn't be happier. What's your first spring project?

And here's a gratuitous dog picture....he's my photography assistant!

Have a great day! Diane - Gatorbunnysews

Made By A Fabricista: Getting into the Spirit of Summer

I'm not gonna lie y'all, I had a completely different project I wanted to do, but that's gonna take more time, and I wanted something cute, comfy and fun to wear for my birthday on the 19th. When I saw this goldenrod & off white linen jacquard , I thought it looked a bit like the design on a Koroks body, especially Makar from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker! I started with the bodice from the free Elderberry dress pattern from Mood, but deviated for the skirt, it felt a little plain of a design, and I had scraps of a Korok fabric that I knew would be a nice accent with some cut out pockets. I've made these pockets once before, deciding the cut out was based on aligning with the seam on the bodice for how far in, and as for how low depended on where I wanted the pouch of the pocket to start. From there I cut the visible part of the pocket, making sure to match the curve of the waist and following the line of the side seams of the skirt, as well as cutting a facing to...

Made By A Fabricista: A Pink Suiting Set for Spring

Spring is here! So is my first blog of the year. I had some inspiration with this one. I saw a picture on an Instagram profile and wanted to make my own. Now, my version ended up a little different, but overall, I really love it. However, I still want to recreate the inspiration pic at some point. For this look, I chose a cotton candy pink double weave suiting . It is soft, has a semi-textured hand, and has a crepe weave on the wrong side. The fabric does have some stretch to it. I absolutely love the color and feel of this fabric. This is a suiting fabric with the softness of a knit. The thing I do not like about it though is it snags. So, I had to be careful using pins and seam ripping to prevent snags. I had the Fernanda Vicki Sews pattern in mind but once I downloaded the instructions and saw how many pieces were involved, I switched to a different pattern, lol. I ended up making the Riana Blazer. It has a semi-fitted blazer with a straight silhouette. A belt and belt loops that yo...

Made By A Fabricista: Youtube Edition - Marty

This is the beginning of a long-term project to make Italian Court Garb for my partner and me. And we are 100% blaming him for this. Because he asked. This project is your standard Venetian-style pants. I originally pulled this pattern for Matthew Gnagy's Modern Marker Vol 2. But over the years, I've made changes to fit my sewing preferences. The build for this was fairly straightforward. Once you get past the volume in the legs, it goes together like any other pair of pants. The only thing that really slowed me down was not being able to find the correct buttons locally (Thanks Joanns). Overall, this was a wonderful project to work on during the deadline season for my job because of how familiar it was. I am excited to continue to work on building his doublet, cassock, and eventually my gown. Be sure to check out my channel to follow along with the full build! MARTY | @scrappypatterns (Feeling inspired? Shop Linen now.)

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