Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: A Mini Summer Capsule Collection

Hello Everyone! Summer is upon us and I am excited about sewing with bold colors and printed fabrics. Every summer, I try to make a mini collection to mix and match with items in my closet.

The Fabric.

I selected 2 different color ways of a cotton poplin fabric in the blue and pink. I especially love that it is a stripe and floral mixed prints fabric. It’s lightweight, breathable and absolutely perfect for a hot summer day.

The Pattern.

I made 3 different pieces in this mini collection: a pair of casual shorts, a blouse and a maxi dress. For the shorts, I used McCalls 8221 view B with the ruffles on view A. I made Nina Lee Patterns “Bakerloo” for my blouse and it turned out great. The midi/maxi dress was made with the newest Helen’s closet pattern: Reynolds. I didn’t make any fit alterations or style changes for any of the pieces I made, the “Reynolds” dress did come with D come size which I took advantage off to make my dress. Overall, all of the patterns I used were easy to make with the given instructions.



The Sewing Process.

The process was a bit long as you can imagine making 3 pieces from 2 different fabrics. I decided to mix and match the different color ways of the fabric into each of the pieces I made to create color-blocked and mixed prints pieces. The shorts and maxi dress were relatively quick makes, the blouse had a lot of sewing details especially while making the collar but the result was definitely worth the sewing time.



The Styling.

I made 3 items and showed about 4 ways of styling the pieces. The blouse can be styled with pair of high waisted pants for work but also dressed down with a pair of denim shorts for brunch or a cookout. The casual ruffle shorts can be paired with t-shirts for running errands or dressed up with a cami for date night/girls night out. The maxi dress is versatile as well, it can be styled as is with a pair of strappy sandals or with a denim jacket/white blazer. These 3 pieces will work so well with items I already have in my closet.



I look forward to wearing my summer collection pieces all season long, have a good weekend and see you on my next post!

RALIAT  @raliat.oyinlola


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following category POPLIN & COTTON SHIRTING.

Comments

  1. Wow, those pieces are wonderful. I love seeing how you made them work with others in your closet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like the Reynolds dress. I can see where your pieces will greatly expand your wardrobe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your garments are lovely.
    How long did it take to make them with your busy schedule

    ReplyDelete
  4. Smashing. And the fit is great. You look very cool,

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Recent Posts You Might Like

Made by a Fabricista: What to Make with Silk Taffeta

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 ...

Made By A Fabricista: Mechanic Chic!

When it comes to buying ready-to-wear garments as a sewist, I only ever spend in three categories: heavy duty winter jackets (life in Maine!), bras… and jumpsuits! I love a good jumpsuit, but unfortunately the ones I used to buy have been impacted by the tariff situation and I can’t get them affordably anymore. This can only mean one thing, folks: it’s time to roll up my sleeves and sew my very first jumpsuit!  When I started planning for this project, I knew I wanted to use a heavyweight linen for cozy comfort in the fall and breathability in the summer. I wanted something that would wear beautifully and soften with age, and something with neutral tones that could go with everything. Naturally, when I came across this 100% linen canvas on Fabric Mart, my heart skipped a beat! I love the ikat-inspired geometry and something about it reminds me of leopard spots too. Bold yet wearable! I am pretty sure this fabric was intended for home decor which I don’t mind at all and in fact of...

Made By A Fabricista: Tried and true summer basics that fit.

Happy Summer Friends! As I am writing this, we are headed into a nasty heat wave…so the timing could not be better to share two of my favorite summer patterns and fabrics.  But first, let me tell you about the fail I had heading into this month’s blog… As Fabricista’s, we get to pick out fabric for each of our blog submissions. I fell in love with this gorgeous lilac jacquard knit that I thought would be perfect for a pop of color in my summer wardrobe. But I made a fatal error - I grabbed a pattern I haven’t made for years, quickly went up one size to account for a few new pounds, and sewed them up. And they don’t fit, will NEVER fit, and will never be worn. Sigh…when will I learn?? Here’s a flat lay pic so we can at least look at the lovely fabric: The lesson I learned (relearned!) is that just like with off the rack clothes, the things that worked well for me years ago don’t work well for me today.  And that’s the case with both tops and bottoms. So I went back to two patt...

A Yard And Change

Do you have a fabric that you love and has been hanging around but is too small to use? Maybe you found a wonderful fabric with a super cute print but there's only a yard left.  I've got a few projects I worked on all with roughly a yard of fabric. And I have a few tips for making that yard and change go further! Cutting Layout: You can get a lot more mileage out of a yard of fabric if you can get creative with how you lay out your fabric. Cutting things single layer will give you the most control. My favorite thing to do is unfold the fabric and fold the selvages in to meet in the middle. That gives me two folded edges to work with. I had to overlap these to get enough width for the tank top. Just make sure that your pattern pieces don't also overlap!  This one was especially fun for me because I really loved the print on this swimwear knit but am not yet up to sewing swimwear. But a nice flowy hiking tank is perfect for this! In the future I'd love to experiment with...