Fabric Mart Fabricistas

I've wanted one of these side-split tees/tops for a good long while. As the releases were rolled out from the various pattern companies, I was consistently on the fence. I'm short. I'm fairly rectangular from the front on. Would I really like this style on me?? I saw cute versions on other sewing bloggers and decided, okay, I'm going for it! I was in my local Hancock store and saw new Simplicity patterns (before they were released!) and scooped up Simplicity 8138. I loved the seaming in back and the cut on sleeve. I managed to miss that there would be a LOT of extra volume in the top -- which the line drawing does indicate! I just didn't pay close enough of attention.  I chose a size 14 and since I didn't want to add a dart, just graded out a bit through the bust and waist.  I was so excited to get it together, that I didn't think about fabric handling. I'd already assembled the back before I decided French seams may have been a good i...

There is a ton of boucle at the Fabric Mart site right now!   Every color combo and texture you could imagine.  :-)  I have always loved the look and feel of boucle, but I rarely make things from it, so when faced with my May post, I figured why not take this beautiful and slightly formal fabric and make it into something a little more fun and casual?  When I do outfit of the day posts at my blog, one of my favorite tags to use is "dressy casual," and I was excited to find a way to take this fabric and make a dressy casual kind of look with it! This fabric appeared briefly at the site before it sold out.  :-)  It is a poly boucle, and though it's hard to tell, it is made from navy blue and burgundy yarns woven together.  It is lined in a stretch nylon (woven) lining (that I WISH Fabric Mart would get more of, this is the best lining material I have ever worked with).  The top is made using Burda 7175 , a vintage pattern from the 1960s....

It's been quite awhile since I have posted one of my projects on the FM blog! It's not that I haven't been sewing, but frankly I don't get the opportunity to photograph most of my makes. Kudos to all of you that have that chance.  I couldn't pass up the chance to share with you my most recent make. Shirtdresses are popular this spring (they have been for awhile now, but an even larger presence now.) I wanted to make a very unique shirtdress. A few months ago, we had a super cute flamingo print cotton that I couldn't resist. I am a sucker for prints and while I really liked the flamingos, I wondered if the print limited what I could do with it. But after some careful thought I decided on a shirtdress. I wanted to wear it on my vacation to Florida recently, but only got half of it sewn before leaving. I'm not one to stay up all night to get it done, so it sat at my sewing machine while I was away. :O( When McCall's released their Early Summer...

Hi Fashionistas! I hope you are doing fashionably well! The month of May is typically a busy month for my family and I. We celebrate Mother's day, my birthday and wedding anniversary all in the same month. Typically, we take our annual trip around this time.. but honestly, this year it seems like we have just been taking it one day at a time. So given it's my birthday month, I figured I would sew up a cute Little black dress. This is a very easy modified version of McCall's 6886. I cut view C, and self drafted the flounce. Instructions on how to draft a flounce are included at the end of the post. The fabric is a textured double knit that can be found HERE . I like that this fabric is sturdy like a ponte knit, but has more than a moderate stretch. I love the way this dress feels on! I'll be making my daughter a matching skater skirt soon! If you want to make this, use view C of McCall's 6886. Decide where you want the flounce to be. You ...

I love Chambray, it is super comfortable, sews together so well and looks great in so many ways!  I decided to make my May contribution based on a cute little McCall's pattern, 7391 in a dress. I LOVE this fabric.  It is soft, holds its shape, presses beautifully, and the color!!!  My oh my, this is my ideal shade of Chambray blue. I like adding little bits of hardware at times and since this pattern had grommets, I had to try it out. McCall's patterns are the ones I sew the most often and I know what steps I need to take to make the garment fit me. When you prepare your pattern tissue according to your fit, it makes construction very easy.  I made an FBA, swayback adjustment, sloping shoulder adjustment and that's it.  Although when you make a sloping shoulder adjustment you also must decrease the height of the sleeve cap and lower the armscye so the sleeve isn't too tight at the shoulder. This pattern is stated as loose-fitting but don't ...

As temperatures rise, and festivals are planned, in comes plenty opportunities for wearing something a little "different".  The fabric I used is a medium weight linen from Fabric Mart that is currently sold out, but  will be restocked soon ( HERE ). I drafted this top on my dress form after seeing a slightly different inspiration on instagram.   The bodice was drafted with side and shoulder draping.  The side draping is 12 inches by the measurements from center front to center back.  The shoulder was 5 inches by the length of  a decent drape from the should seam and back to the shoulder seam.  There are 3 straps for each shoulder.  The second and third straps are shorter in length by 2 inches. The side drapes were cut 2 pieces for each side and sewn together along the longest side with the ends free.  I then presses the pleats. I cut 2 of every bodice piece and lined the bodice with it self.  I decided to ...