Made by a Fabricista: Fall is Coming! Are You Sewing for Fall Yet?

Fall has to be my most favorite season of the year. In South Dakota typically the weather is at its best. The trees, flowers, shrubs are filled with color, and the cool evenings and warm days are delightful. What's a girl to do besides sew some garments that take us from summer to fall and even winter?

In swoops a gorgeous suiting from Fabric Mart in black/blue and ivory novelty weave with great body and weight. I knew it would be perfect for the Style Arc Livia jacket. The colors stated were black and white, but I think the black has a lot of blue in it and found my leather pieces, also from Fabric Mart, were a perfect match! More on that later!

I wanted a jacket that would work with jeans for casual Fridays or a skirt or dressier pants for the work week. I love the clean and classic lines and the simple fit. Not too boxy but not fitted either.

Cutting and sewing the pattern was simple! There are only nine pattern pieces which include the front and back facings, two sizes of patch pockets, two piece sleeves front, back and side back. Seriously, this took about 30 minutes to cut and I am a slow poke when it comes to that step! This fabric fused just beautifully to the interfacing I used on the front and back facings.

I love the patch pockets on the front. I mentioned I used garment leather for the top portions of the pockets. The leather is hand washable and the suiting fabric is washable on gentle. I think this will be a win-win fabric combination.

Sewing this up is fast and easy as well. There are minimal seams to put together which is a bonus.

Look at those sleeves. Are they not hanging beautifully or what? I added 1/4" shoulder pads and found that they rounded out the area perfectly and help the sleeve hang just like it is on a hanger or dress form.

This jacket is unlined and look at how beautifully the fabric is suited for this! Sometimes I feel like I nail it for fabric and patterns combos and yes, this is one of those times!

Here is a glimpse of the hook and eye type of treatment I used at the neckline. This was in the button section of JoAnn's fabrics and I thought it would be a tad bit nicer than a regular hook and eye the pattern calls for.

I love this fabric, I love my jacket so pick up some suiting fabric from Fabric Mart, match it to a pattern and show the world what you've created! (You can find FM's suiting fabric HERE.)

Thanks for reading!

Sue from Ilove2sew!

Made By A Fabricista: Falling for Knits

We are now well into Fall, even though the temps are still relatively warm here in Texas. I love the fall season and dressing for Fall. When it comes to the conversation of knits vs. wovens I typically sew mostly wovens. So for this post I decided to sew completely knits! With the holiday season right around the corner I saw these three dress styles as perfect for Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving gatherings. The first look is a tried and true pattern Simplicity S9372. Using this gorgeous burgundy ponte knit , I like how this pattern fits throughout. I chose this color to add to my typically neutral palette in my closet. I also wanted something I could wear to my sorority meetings and found this color perfect. It's an easy sew with back fisheye darts and invisible zipper to add to the tapered style. The neckline and armholes are finished with bias binding giving it a clean finish on the inside. I used a universal needle to sew a...

Made By A Fabricista: Closing 2025 with a Lined Jacket

Hello again, sewing friends! It seems we have arrived yet again in the grandest season for layering, all this oncoming cold weather. I like ending the year with something warm and very useful. Seems based on my past Fabricista posts, I love to sew year-end outerwear, and this round is no different! I challenged myself with a new lined coat (wait, jacket? Coat? I feel like the presence of wool changes things?). Anyhoo, since the lovely Chalk & Notch Den Jacket has been in my queue, I proceeded ahead. I like the large pockets, the option to line or not, and the extra bodice and sleeve seams for topstitching. Sewing this coat is not at all difficult, but the many pieces and loads of topstitching will take a bit of time. My version took me a few multiple-hour sessions to complete. I sewed a size 2, which matches my measurements, and I made no alterations. Hint: for a quick size test, just employ the lining pieces. Gorgeous, muted blue as a soft wool flannel ? This is ...

Made By A Fabricista: Chalk and Notch Wren Dress: My Buffet dress for the Christmas season!

I recently sewed the Chalk and Notch Wren dress using a beautifully soft black voile from Fabric Mart, and it turned into such a satisfying, enjoyable project. The pattern itself is very easy to understand and straightforward with clear instructions, intuitive construction, and a relaxed fit that makes the sewing process easy. A buffet dress in the sewing community is a dress that is loose fitting, so you can eat at the buffet without your dress being uncomfortable afterwards, lol! Because the voile I chose is extremely thin and transparent, I opted to line the bodice and first tier. Adding a lining not only provided modesty but also gave the delicate fabric a bit more stability, especially around the neckline and button placket. A helpful tip when sewing a lining into a lightweight bodice is to treat the lining and the main fabric as one. I sewed the bodice as you would for a lined bodice, and the first tier I sewed the pieces together with a basting stitch to make the process...

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