Fabric Mart Fabricistas

I may have mentioned before but one of my favorite textiles to work with is leather.  I love the feel, smell of it and how it sews.  You can really find some good leather gems from Fabric Mart, I will say if you see it get it because more than likely it won’t stay long.  I saw these two hides on the website and had to grab them immediately! For this make I was inspired by another creator Andrea Jones who used Motif Studio Patterns to make her Origami Bag Pattern.  I decided to do the same but color block with the two leather hides from Fabric Mart along with another piece of remnant leather I had in my stash.  I decided to go with the oversized version of the bag pattern. When it comes to sewing leather here are a few tips I want to share.  For needle size you want to go with a larger needle size that is sharp.  I recommend 100/16 or 110/18 for size.  You want to be precise when sewing with leather because it does puncture and leaves marks if you ...

Hi Fabric Mart fans! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! This month, while perusing the Fabric Mart collection, I was drawn to cotton twill fabrics. My son, who's growing like a weed, is always in need of new pants! I could easily have made him multiple pairs of pants, however I was also drawn to a bright blue stretch twill for me. I just can't resist a bold color on a jacket, and this blue was calling my name! I hope you love these outfits as much as I do! Since I planned to make pants for my son, I knew I'd need to make a button-down shirt as well. Fabric Mart had a range of fabulous cotton shirtings and it was hard to land on just one, but I eventually picked this royal blue gingham which pairs perfectly with the tan twill pants. When it comes to woven patterns for boys, I can never go past Oliver+S. I've made their dress shirts so many times now - the finishes are always lovely, and always so worth the time and effort. I used the Buttoned-Up Button-Down Shi...

I feel like this month my ambition ran away from me... again. But when I saw this beautiful polyester taffeta it just told me it HAD to be an Italian court gown. And who can argue with fabric? This dress was a continuation of my experimental archeology in finding the best way to make a 1540s Italian Court Gown. And I think you can just see my excitement when I opened the package. If not you can definitely hear it when on the video.  The primary difference between this dress, and the others I have made in the past was the internal structure. Instead of using cotton canvas, I used Horsehair canvas. I still don't think I can properly articulate what that changed, other than it make a bigger difference than I was expecting. Once the boning channels were placed, I knew that this dress would fit me differently from all of the others. And I am not disappointed. Adding the fashion layer is fairly straightforward. But it's a lot of smoothing and pinning, and basting to make sure that ev...

Hey Sewing Friends!! I’m super excited to be a guest Fabricista. I’ve been a fan of Fabric Mart since I began sewing again in 2020. Let me begin with an introduction. I’m Eras, and my Instagram account is sewing_andmore. During the day, I work as a Nurse Practitioner, and I  first learned to sew in my local 4-H club when I was in middle school.  At that time, I had an amazing sewing instructor, Mrs. McKinney, who was extremely patient and was by my side for every step. However, in 2020, the stress of being a Nurse Practitioner during the pandemic made me turn to sewing for my mental health. I started out sewing and creating masks, and I immediately saw a change in my mood. I’m so glad I dusted off my old sewing machine, and I haven’t stopped! After seeing the rush of adrenaline and satisfaction sewing provided, I started making clothes. When I no longer needed fat-quarters, I started looking for online fabric stores. It was during this time that I discovered Fabric Mart and th...

Sewing is a creative hobby that allows me to express my unique style while adding a personal touch to my wardrobe. When it comes to choosing between wovens and knits I will mostly always choose woven. There are a lot of reasons I choose wovens as my go-to choice. The project I chose for this Fabric Mart make is from Friday Pattern Company’s Patina Blouse .  I used a gorgeous lightweight rayon .  It’s delicate hand is the perfect blouse weight and it drapes beautifully with this pattern. In this blog post, l'll explore the advantages of sewing woven blouses over knit shirts, highlighting the creativity, versatility, and satisfaction that come with this choice.  The Joy of Creativity Sewing a woven blouse offers a chance for my creativity to flourish. Woven fabrics come in a wide array of colors, patterns, and textures, allowing me to unleash my artistic potential. With knits, the stretch and drape of the fabric often limit my design options. In contrast, woven fabrics give...