Fabric Mart Fabricistas

My kids have been in desperate need of new swimsuits this summer, but with a busy season of moving house and spending nearly a month in Australia, it left barely any sewing time! When I spotted a whole collection of Beach Riot swim fabric land at Fabric Mart, I knew it was just the motivation I needed to get new suits made! Last year my eldest was on swim team and I was floored at the cost of her suit - somewhere in the ballpark of $80! Using less than a yard of fabric and some elastic, swimsuits are incredibly cheap to make yourself! I ultimately selected three prints and four solids (one being a beige color I intended to use as lining), with input from my children to get their preferred designs. I made an initial sketch in Photoshop to get a visual on what they would look like, and then made a few more changes once the fabric arrived. The easiest suit to make was my son's - I used Jalie Gerald underwear and Nico raglan. This was my first time making Gerald and I loved how quickl...

       One of the most known rules of fashion is not to wear white after labor day. I do not tend to follow that rule. I lean more-so the rule of wear what makes you happy & if that’s wearing a full white jumpsuit in the middle of winter then go for it. Today, however, I am sharing my newest favorite make, my Blanca boiler suit from Closet Core Patterns .  As you know, Fabric Mart offers everything that you need to make any project that you may be wanting to start and/or working on. They offer fabric, patterns, thread, etc. It’s very easy to get started on something! For my project I chose an all-white twill, which for me was extremely close to denim. It was extremely easy to work with & easy to cut. Depending on the project I would definitely consider twill to be a good fabric for beginners, however, white might not be. I accidently almost spilled my coffee on it & after that I was extremely careful. I loved the Blanca sewing pattern b...

Hello Gems! For this month's Fabricista feature I’ve chosen a beautiful bold red suiting fabric from Fabric Mart.  I set out to make a two piece that would carry over to Fall but the weather has been so hot lately that I decided to lean more into shorts instead.  What can I say, I can’t let go of Summer just yet! Nevertheless, I love this bold red, it works for any season and it never goes out of style. The fabric is a light to medium weight fabric. It's perfect for suiting, blazers, pants and dresses, and the quality is superb! If you follow my creations on social media you guys know I love my cargo and utilitarian details. This trend is still going strong and I wanted to bring these features into this look. With that in mind I wanted to create something using my Early Spring Know Me pattern ME2020. I used the pattern to create a vest style wrap top. I kept some of the original features but made small modifications to them. I created the cargo pockets a little differently, l...

Tuesday, June 20. As I write this, my plan for this post is to make a maxi tote bag and fill it up with some handmade things I need for the pool and the beach. I will make the tote bag for sure, and as time permits, sew other items, such as towels, a swimsuit cover, and we’ll see what else. The idea is to avoid a last-minute rush and write this blog post to deliver it on August 7. Let’s see how that goes! Thursday, June 22. I ordered a bunch of material from Fabric Mart. I took advantage of an incredible 65% sitewide discount to fill my cart with different fabric types: 2 yards of waterproof cloth , 4 yards of double gauze in two colors, and 2 yards of swimwear lycra. All this for $50!  Friday, June 23. I spent my Friday evening surfing the internet for cool and free tote bag patterns! I have selected the model I will sew and planned some modifications, such as adding a mesh pocket for sandy little beach toys and a zippered pocket for my phone and keys on the exterior. Instead ...

Dare I start this blog by asking who enjoys assembling a PDF pattern? I know I don’t love it! If you’re like me, and love using PDF pattern files, but hate assembling them, a projector for sewing is perfect for you! For this Fabricista blog, I made three garments using beautiful Fabric Mart knits and my projector in no time! Since I installed a projector in my sewing space, I’ve been able to save precious time by adding technology to the fabric-cutting process. If you’re new to the idea of projectors being used for sewing let me catch you up to speed.  A projector casts the lines of  PDF sewing pattern pieces onto a table or cutting mat. From there, you place your fabric on the table/cutting mat and cut your pattern pieces directly from the projected image. I've captured a couple of photos so you can see how this looks. This projection onto the fabric means that you can avoid printing and assembling paper patterns, saving time and printing costs. As an added bonus, since you’r...