Fabric Mart Fabricistas

You may have noticed that Fabric Mart has a *HUGE* selection of silk taffeta right now.  A lot of it is either large plaid or large stripes.   I was curious about it, and not really sure what I could make with it, but I just knew it would be gorgeous fabric and had to play around with it.  Turns out, it's actually great for quite a range of projects!  The dress above is my third project. Let me show you the first two. My first was to make some queen size pillow shams.  They are the plaid ones in the back of the photo.  I also made the two printed ones in the center from another Fabric Mart home dec fabric special!  I wanted to make the covers removable with a zipper, and include a braided trim.  As luck would have it, I found a whole card of braided trim at an estate sale that worked with my taffeta for just $2! To start, I used a zipper foot to stitch down the braided trim all around one side of the pillow. Then I serged ...

Hello all!  Summer is speeding by, isn't it?  We've sure had a crazy busy one so far.  Today I bring you a trio of garments, two that match and one that's louder than a marching band... First up, Cheeks and Daddy J's matching tops! These were made from this wonderfully soft and surprisingly not wrinkle prone (even though it's made of all natural fibers) candy red cotton/rayon/lycra jersey .  The description calls it semi-sheer, but I'd say it's definitely opaque enough for a top! The pattern is the Jalie Nico raglan tee.  I found the sizing to be pretty on par with ready to wear.  Not surprising, since this has been my general experience with Jalie patterns.  I made a size 3 (G) for Cheeks, which I was afraid would end up too big but is just a bit relaxed instead.  Also, take a look at how Cheeks has grown into his pull on jeans! When J first saw the pattern, his first question was "can you make it a v-neck instead?" and my r...

Hi All- I hope you are well.  For this month's post, I decided to make something out of linen.  When I saw this shade of green linen online, I thought it would be a perfect choice for the summer. I must admit that I wasn't 100% confident with my choice of fabric, because I was super concerned about the wrinkle factor and how my ultimate garment would look.  I wanted to do a really classic button down dress and thought McCall's M7623 , View A would accomplish the look I had in mind. Prior to cutting my fabric, I read an article on Craftsy related to how to pre-treat your fabric. For linen, it said to wash the fabric and finished garment in hot water and dry it in a hot dryer.  It said that it would soften the garment up.  After washing the fabric, I did notice that it softened up a lot and completely lost the stiff feeling.  I have a habit of emptying out the lint trap in my dryer very often and had done so prior to placing my fabric in.  Aft...

HI Fashionistas! This month I sewed up something with leftover fabric that has been sitting in my stash for two years! Fabric Mart was gracious enough to send me some extra fabric a few years ago! I used Simplicity 8383 to sew up this gorgeous tent dress. I cut view A in a size 6 and it was just right. Although the pattern calls for a softer knit, I chose a scuba knit. Even though it's not as drapey, it falls beautifully. Another reason I love a scuba knit, it doesn't need any finishing on the hem.  Here is the back view. The dress pattern was shorter. I lengthened the hem by a few inches.  Love the cut outs. This is officially my 1st cold shoulder make. I replaced the neck binding with a triple cover stitch.  That's all for my DIY dress! Next, I am working on a seersucker top. It's going to be a hot summer here, so I can't wait to slip into my next creation! Oh! Before I go, I wanted to share with you the origi...