Made by a Fabricista: Merry and Bright!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or joyful Kwanza or just a wonderful Wednesday. We hosted Christmas dinner and spent the day with family and friends. Thankfully my husband did the most of the cooking so I just did the decorating and cleaning! On to this outfit...

I love bright colors, especially during the dreary winter months! When I saw this bright chartreuse suiting I had a thought for a suit or a coat dress. Then I spotted this animal print blouse fabric in leopard and fell in love. The animal print fabric is a 100% Polyester Animal Print Blouse Weight Woven from a Famous Dress Designer. It is currently sold out, but it is one of Fabric Mart's re-orderable fabrics. Which means it should be restocked soon! Keep checking back. It's SKU is UZC7299r.

Although I really wanted to sew the recently released M7997, I decided to go with a suit and blouse. I selected Butterick 6523 because liked the simplicity of the blazer, it's unlined with no closures. Initially I was thinking wide leg pants, but decided to sew the coordinating pants because, well... they were designed to go together. Simplicity 8789 is a bodysuit pattern I grabbed a while back and this fabric is perfect for it. I love a bodysuit for layering, especially a blousy one.

I love that this suiting by Milly has a great stretch (20% horizontally and 30% vertically) as I find a little stretch makes everything more comfortable to wear. Unfortunately this chartreuse is sold out, but they have 6 other colors available, including a similar highlighter green. There are also several other stretch suiting available as well. This Milly fabric sews up beautifully! The weight is listed as light/medium, but I'd call it medium. The hand is smooth and soft. The only issue was it did seem to shed quite a bit.

Since the jacket is unlined I decided to take the extra step to bias bind the seams, facing and hems for a more professional look. The raw edges of the pants are just serged, but look at that serge!

Some may find a chartreuse suit a bit much and I'll admit it is, but I love it and I think it works well together. Surprisingly I feel I can switch this up a few different ways. Chartreuse goes well with gray (as seen here), navy, teal, white and black.

This animal print fabric is a near perfect match and I love it! I love bodysuits, they always stay tucked in. This blouse weight woven has the perfect drape for this wrap front bodysuit. Though this fabric is lighter weight it isn't slippery or shifty and was easy to sew. However I did notice the fabric would snag when pinning. I just made sure to use my sharpest, newest pins and I didn't have a problem. I haven't decided what to do about the sleeves, here they are just flowing. My plan was to do the cuffs (view d), but I couldn't find buttons that I liked so I figured I'd do the elastic hem (view C). Now that I see the flowy-ness of the flared sleeve, I'm really liking it, so I may just do a narrow hem.

I'm so pleased with my look and that I put the bright in Merry and Bright!

Happy New Year! See you next year!

Tiffany

TipStitched.com

Made By A Fabricista: Sheer Elegance and Everyday Comfort with my Two New Tops

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon from Sharon Sews with my last Fabricista make for 2025. While many sew a special holiday outfit at year’s end, I went in another direction sewing two tops that couldn’t be more different. One is sheer and elegant while the other is easy comfort for everyday wear. These tops reflect how I dress at this stage of life. As an over-50 sewist, these two tops reflect how I dress at this point in my life. Sometimes I want something a bit special, other times more basic. Either way, sewing them in beautiful fabrics, custom fit to my body, makes all the difference in how I feel when I wear them. Even though I’m quite pleased with my two tops, my original plan was to sew a jacket with the tropical print stretch twill and pair it with a top sewn from the soutache mesh knit . Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough to get enough of the stretch twill to make a jacket, so a top it was! You do know you have to act fast when you see something you love on Fabric ...

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing for a Florida Cold Snap with Fabric Mart Fabrics

Even here in Florida, we get the occasional cold weather surprise, and when temperatures dipped recently, I was very glad to have the perfect handmade outfit ready to go. For this month’s Fabricista make, I sewed up New Look pattern 6771, using two beautiful fabrics sent to me by Fabric Mart Fabrics. The Fabric & Pattern Choice New Look 6771 is a cozy two-piece set featuring a relaxed-fit top and pull-on pants—exactly the kind of pattern that works well for transitional weather. I chose to start with the top, using a brown animal print French terry from Fabric Mart, and it turned out to be an absolute dream to work with. The French terry was soft, substantial without being heavy, and handled beautifully at the machine . It had just the right amount of structure to highlight the pattern’s design details while still feeling comfortable and wearable. From cutting to pressing, this fabric behaved perfectly and elevated the final garment. The Top: A Total Win The top from New Look 677...

Made By A Fabricista: A Wooly Wearable Blanket.

Twirling in a me-made outfit! I live in a small town where the nearest fabric shop is a road trip away, so I almost exclusively shop for fabric online. Having access to an online shop like Fabric Mart with a solid search engine is incredibly helpful. But by far my favorite aspect of Fabric Mart is what I call the “Drape Picture” included in each listing! This picture gives me all the information I need and I find it more helpful than the exact weight per yard/square meter. Seeing how the fabric falls close or away from the body gives me a clear idea of how it will behave and inspires me to make it into something that will highlight the fabric’s nature. When I saw the drape of this “Baked Plum” wool suiting , I immediately wanted to immortalize those beautiful folds into a skirt! I opted for a simple self-drafted pleated skirt with a deep hem. I wear my dresses year-round and rely on wool skirts that I layer under or over my dresses for warmth. I cut two panels for the front ...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog