Fabric Mart Fabricistas

For my March post, I knew I wanted to make some spring dresses.  I also know that I tend to sew brightly colored garments and I need some neutral garments in my closet, so I decided to make not one, but two dresses and to make them different in style, texture, and color! The Ivory, off-white is a super yummy Rayon-Linen blend that was perfect for this dress. This particular fabric is sold out, but you can find others HERE . This dress is made from an ITY knit. The fabric is sold out, but you can find many other options HERE .  My goal was to make two entirely different garments--I think I achieved that, what do you think?  For the off-white dress, I used McCall's 6885 which is an easy fit dress that is made from a woven fabric.  Fitting through the bust and shoulders is essential as the rest of the garment is rather rectangular shaped, perfect for what I envisioned. Here you can see the details of the placket and front pockets:  ...

I absolutely love the big, bold and bright ITY knit prints that have been coming out lately on the Fabric Mart website.  They are perfect for dresses, but what if your lifestyle doesn't need a ton of dresses?  I think I've found the answer:  long tunics! For these outfits, I used Vogue 9159.  This pattern includes both a shorter and longer length tunic, and the slightly flared pants.  The tunics have an inset at the sides of the front, and one of the seams isn't sewn all of the way, creating a nice deep walking slit.  I always have to test out a pattern from an inexpensive fabric to make sure I like the fit, so my first version was with an ITY knit that I got from the $1.99 section at Fabric Mart.   I loved the colors and wanted to show off as much as the extra large paisley print as possible, so I made the longer version.  What I learned from making the test version was that the neckline was pretty wide, and that even ...

If you browse through our website often, you may periodically come across fabric that comes in panels or borders. While some may feel like it's too much of a challenge, they offer wonderful possibilities for something out of the ordinary! You can be really creative with panels! Maggy London is known for using paneled fabric in her garments, and we just so happen to get some of those.  I recently offered this fabric in Julie's Picks and was pleasantly surprised by the number of people that purchased it! It was a stretch cotton sateen with a large stripe-effect floral design. You are seeing the entire panel in the dress. Here are examples of other panels prints in garments:  So I put myself to the challenge of making something with a panel. I chose the Purple Floral Lace Half Medallion ITY Knit.  I really enjoyed trying to figure out how to use it. I used my mannequin as a model. I tried the panel at my shoulders, at my waist and even along one...