Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Hey there my sewing friends!  Summer is here and I am all for it.  It has been exceptionally hot here in Southwest Florida. We have had temps in the high 90’s.  I want to keep cool and comfortable and still look pulled together this summer.  That’s why I chose rayon challis for this month’s summer make.   Rayon Challis is lightweight, flowy, soft and extremely comfortable to wear. It’s an excellent choice for summer outfits.  It has a beautiful drape making it an excellent choice for maxis, tops, dresses, and shorts. The fabric is lightweight and depending upon your sewing project you may need to use a lining with this fabric. Also use a lightweight interfacing when working with rayon challis.  If you are a beginner at sewing, you may find the fabric a bit fiddly to work with, but the end result is so worth it.  Fabric Mart has beautiful challis fabric to choose from. I chose this fun tropical print on an off-white background. This summer sea...

Well, I guess that just leaves me. I'm Krystal & I manage this blog, among other things. Now that I've taken the time to introduce you to all of the wonderful employees here at Fabric Mart, ( and our amazing owners ), I am going to go ahead & close this portion of our Behind The Scenes off with my Q&A. So hello there! 👋 It's nice to meet you! Who are you? Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am Krystal. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania for almost 16 years now. But I am originally from sunny Southern California! I recently just moved to Lancaster County with my Fiancé – we get married this September! We have a one-brain-celled orange tabby named Dexter whom we adore. I’m a wordy, animal loving, introverted, homebody with a pretty decent green thumb. Oh & I think I am a pretty good cook as well. How long have you worked at Fabric Mart? I just celebrated seven years this month! What are your main responsibilities? What do you do? My official title is Webmaster....

To me, eyelet fabric suggests warm weather and sunshine.  I can envision myself sipping lemonade, while swaying on a porch swing with a gentle summer breeze on my face, all while wearing a lovely eyelet dress.  Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon with Sharon Sews here sharing my latest Fabricista make with you.  This time I sewed some separates using a summer staple, eyelet fabric.   A quick search online revealed eyelet being used in more than just dresses this season, ranging from romantic dresses to flirty tops to wide-leg pants and matching camp shirts.  I even saw a man’s white eyelet top on a high-end shirt designer’s website.  There are so many options for using eyelet fabric, but I liked the look of eyelet pants with a matching top. Both fabrics were designer fabrics – I LOVE that section on the website! A white 100% cotton geometric floral embroidered eyelet lawn, and a baby pink/white 100% cotton embroidered pinwheel floral voile.  Both ar...

The weather is getting hot and I've definitely been in full summer wardrobe mode since the first day of June. There are so many fun styles and trends to get into this season and let's not forget all the fabulous summer fabrics to choose from. Of course we are talking about our light to medium weight breathable cottons, linens voiles and batiste fabrics because those are my go-to fabrics for the summer. For this month's Fabricista feature I had to share one of my favorite styles for the season and that’s the bubble and puff trend. My summer Knowme Pattern  ME2093 was recently released and I think that it is right on trend with the season.  Long live the puff sleeve! But better yet, let's make it extra bubbly because, Why not? For this top I went with Fabric Marts cotton oxford shirting fabric! This is your classic shirting fabric. In fact this is a Ralph Lauren fabric. It’s a great quality cotton fabric. It's sturdy yet breathable. It creates a nice voluminous puff s...

I recently got a panicked sewing emergency call from my sister. She's relatively new to apparel sewing and working with knit fabric for the first time made her want to pull her hair out. Her fabric kept getting sucked into her needle plate and she was at her wits end. If you've sewn with knits, then chances are this has happened to you. Maybe it has happened to you enough that you've vowed never to sew with knit fabric again. Before you swear off knits for life, I want to share a few tips for working with knit fabric to encourage you to keep sewing! These are the same tips I gave my sister: 1. Use a brand-new ballpoint machine needle appropriate for the weight of your knit fabric. Fabric Mart sells them! 2. Use a stretch stitch (zig-zag, lightning bolt, twin needle, whatever your particular machine recommends.) When in doubt, read the manual! 3. Go Slow! Turn down your stitch speed, and don’t push your pedal to the floor. 4. Start stitching a 1/4 inch from the raw edge of t...

My latest posts often mention time and space restraints. Indeed, sewing is a rather time-consuming activity that requires generous amounts of floor space, counter space, tablespace, and any other surface available. Despite everything, I was so glad to finally embark on a journey to sew myself a maxi dress. I know most readers have a strong sewing background and appreciate the effort required in a project like this. Still, I had fun keeping a mental score of all the steps to get this done, and what they mean outside of a sewist’s bubble. It is easy to underestimate the time and material needed to get a maxi dress like this done! Whenever I see someone wearing one on the street, I think: “That’s so beautiful, I should make one!” So, when this fabulous rayon showed up in Fabric Mart, I knew the moment had come. I chose the Elodie Wrap Dress by Closet Core Patterns because of its flowy and voluminous look and the dolman sleeves that are so comfortable to wear. The fabric itself is wonder...