Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Hello Fabric Mart Fabricista Readers! To begin this post, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Serena and I am an advanced beginner in the sewing arena. I learned everything I know about sewing from my mom, who always provides excellent advice (whether I listen the first time or not). My mom is Ann ( here's her blog ) and I am guest posting for her this month. Two of my favorite people had their wedding earlier this month. I was extremely excited and honored to be asked to be in their wedding party as a bridesmaid. They generously allowed a bring your own outfit with minimal criteria for the ladies - wine/burgundy in color, knee length. After looking through some patterns with my mom we found Vogue Misses Princess Seam V Neck Dress which had a flattering fit and flare style, had pockets, and could easily look dressy. To fit the color criteria we looked to Fabric Mart. We found a beautiful burgundy satin and dark red lace with sequins (no longer available). I've...

Simplicity 8124 I had a great idea for another summer look to follow up my little white dress from my June post,  a mother/daughter dress duo out of classic blue and white seersucker. This seersucker was easy to work with and as a bonus it is 63" wide! I would note two things. 1) Since this fabric is 100% polyester it doesn't hold a press well 2) It does fray so you will definitely need to serge or otherwise finish your seams. Vogue 8968 from vogue.mccall.com My original plan was to create Vogue 8968 for myself and a simple pillowcase dress for my step-daughter. As you can see the above is not a picture of V8968. Let me tell you what happened, lol. The Vogue pattern is a loose-fitting, pullover dress which features a handkerchief hemline and sleeve bands. I cut the front and back on the grain so that the body of the dress features horizontal stripes. I wanted vertical stripes on the hem band and the sleeve cuff so I cut those pieces against the grain. V8968 Y...

I had two goals with my July make for Fabric Mart... 1. I knew I wanted an outfit for Independence Day, so I knew the fabric would have to be red, white, and blue. 2. I really wanted a super quick and easy make from a fabric that would wash and dry quickly and easily. Luckily for me, Fabric Mart had both a really pretty red, white, and blue seersucker for sale ( its red looks a touch more dark pink, but eh, close enough ), and the Grainline Willow Tank Dress for sale .  I asked them to send me both, and by the time I got to cutting the fabric and sewing it up, I was one day away from the fourth of July festivities, so I really was hoping that the make would truly be as easy as I needed it to be.  :-) I am happy to report that the Willow Tank Dress definitely sewed up very quickly and easily, and the seersucker was a perfect match for it.  Since making it, I have washed and worn it a few times, and it is exactly the kind of dress that is perfect for the south ...

This week's post is from Vatsla of Fashion By The Seams . She is also one of our Fabricistas! HI Fashionistas! I am so excited to be participating in the Summer of T-Shirt Event.  Can I just tell you that tees and tanks are my favorite? I am a stay at home mom for the most part, and I teach and freelance part time. A lot of my work happens from my home studio. I practically live in jeans. But I still want to be stylish! So I always try to dress up my look with something a little more interesting than a basic tee or tank. Here is my version of a dressy tank paired with casual white jeans! I'll be showing you how I hacked this basic t-shirt pattern to get something a lot more dressy! I used the McCalls Palmer/Pletsch 6964 view A and modified it to my liking. Here is my sketch.  Typically I do not trace off patterns, but a pattern with minimal markings makes for an easy to follow visual aid.. so I traced off the front bodice onto pattern ...

When I was composing this blog post in my head, the title was certainly going to include "wadder".  I tried it on mid construction, decided it was okay if a little on the bright(!) side, but when I finished it, I put it on and was so disappointed in the results. My son came down at the moment I was trying it on and asked if it was a nightgown! It wasn't until I removed the 1st temporary drawstring - white satin ribbon, pressed it, added a different temporary drawstring in pink grosgrain (haha!) and accessorized that I felt a huge sigh of relief that I actually like it! I still think the bright pink linen + this pattern had the potential to turn into an unfortunate result from the start. Too hospital gown-y. I will remake this pattern in a print (went perusing the cotton lawn & voile sections!), but this one was just barely saved. I wanted to try out the reorderable linen as it isn't a fiber I sew it with very often. In fact, I think I've only made 2...

Happy birthday to me!!  I try to sew a breezy, easy wearing summer dress every July in the loudest print I can find (like this one from a couple years ago.)  This year I pulled out my BurdaStyle stash and found 5/2014 #117 , the epitome of casual summer dresses! I picked up this "palm trees at sunset" print rayon challis and it was on!!  I cut a straight size 42. Normally I size up in the hip, but clearly this has a very full skirt and is totally accommodating to the pear shaped gal. I added 1" to the bodice length, a normal alteration for me to work for me at 5'8"-- Burda's patterns are designed for someone who is 5'6".  I excluded the pockets on the hips.  Who doesn't love a pocket?!!  Me.  I find they add too much bulk exactly where I don't want it, so bye bye hip pockets. I love those  narrow, little straps.  But I severely dislike the way Burda said I should sew them where you have to turn them right side ...