Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Happy Friday All! As a mother and sewist, I am always planning months in advance for any special occasion dress. Due to the pandemic, my daughter missed all the activities at the end of her elementary journey and I was truly heart broken. She did not have any promotional ceremony, field trips or activities for the last few months of elementary school. I made a vow to myself that in Middle School, no matter what life throws us, I would make the perfect Junior Prom dinner dance dress even if she had to twirl in it at home. When I came across this beautiful blue lycra sequins fabric, I was thrilled. My daughter Arielle and I spoke a few months ago about the perfect Grade 8 Junior Prom dinner dance dress. She found an inspirational photo on Pinterest back in December which was a one shoulder maxi dress that sparkles and she was excited about me making her special dress. At the time she wasn’t quite sure of the shade of blue she wanted but after our trip to Jamaica during Spring break, she ...

As I get more into reading I see dress descriptions that I want to recreate. While this wasn't the exact dress I wanted, it was still a fun adventure. From patterning to sewing to the photoshoot with my mom. I had this piece of fan art by @fireheartweekly saved for a while, and even had a few friends excited to see me make the dress. To say there was a lot of excitement in my little social circle when I started this project would be an understatement. I kept trying the dress on at every possible moment to check the fit, but also because I loved the way it made me feel. While the fan art was inspired by Feyre Archeron from Sarah J Mass's series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, I found myself coming up with my own story for who would wear this dress in my fantasy world. She would be some powerful fantasy hero that could look stunning at a ball but also lead her troops into battle in the morning. Delivering lines like, "For Frodo," or "Be Careful but Be Brave," or...

This was another one of those times when I saw the fabric and instantly knew what it needed to become. I've wanted to do book-themed garments for a while and Bryce Quinlan's Autumn Ball dress from House of Sky and Breath was an excellent place to start. While the book gave a good description of the dress, it also left much up to interpretation. The key details were 1. a plunging neckline. 2. a mermaid skirt. 3. high slit. I eventually landed on a bustier style top because I've been wanting one for a while, and it really felt like it fit with her character. I had no idea what I was doing 90% of the time which made this one of the most stressful builds I've done in a while. But it also taught me a lot. When I make a dress like this in the future, I will definitely be looking up a few tutorials to make sure I get all the supports right. In the end, this was one of the most rewarding projects I've done. I was able to do something new and felt amazing in this dress. 10/1...

  When I saw the Vogue V1842 pattern by Badgley Mischka, I knew I was going to sew it for a special event.  The style is elegant, versatile as it can be worn with a jacket or shawl during cooler seasons and accommodating of changing body shapes with its empire waist.  I needed a formal dress to wear to a Mozart concert in Europe in a couple of months; that dress must be easy to pack on a cruise.    Fabric Mart’s sequined mesh fabric (# SKU:  MOA9294) met my criteria and its color was so unique – a combination of violet, cadmium blue, and deep carmine.  Because sequined fabric is not one of the suggested fabrics in the back of the pattern, I decided to try out the pattern first on one that is, a jacquard.  I happen to have on hand FM’s black and white 100% cotton leaf print with oval jacquard design (SKU#BLA4147).  I first made a muslin and found size 14 bodice and size 16 skirt fit me properly.  I raised the neckline by 5/8 inch, however...

Hello and happy New Year!  Feeling very optimistic about 2022 and what’s to come.  I saw this gorgeous sequin knit fabric and wanted to use it as part of my first post for 2022! Let me tell you when I received it, it was even more gorgeous than I had imagined online.  The pictures didn’t do it justice!  It’s a bunch of colorful sequin palettes backed by a larger gold palette. This sequin was sewn on a mesh knit making it extra stretchy.  Most times when working with sequin you will have to remove the sequins that are within your seam allowance.  This can be a bit of a time-consuming task but it’s much better than breaking your machine needles!  To remove my sequins, I used my curved embroidery scissors.  This works well because the blade curves up preventing you from cutting into your fabric.  This also helps speed up the process.  As far as tips with marking out your seam allowance you can either eyeball it or baste along your seam all...

I can’t believe we have made it to the end of another year.  Since this post is coming out right around the holidays, I wanted to create something with a bit more glam. I found this velvet sequin knit and I will say it is even more gorgeous in person.  For my look I decided to make the Mimi G x Simplicity S9370 but I decided to turn it into a gown! To do this I measured from my waist to floor to add the additional length that I needed and added additional to the back to make it have a small train.  I spread the hem of the skirt to create more of a trumpet style silhouette which made the perfect gown. This fabric was actually very easy to work with, since it is a velvet, it does have nap, so I had to make sure that I cut in the correct direction.  I also noted that I should have pre-washed this fabric before using because the fabric dye did rub off a lot as I was working on it. Once I tried my dress on to check the fit I was in love! It was so comfortable and fit pe...