Style Maker Fabrics Fall Tour: M7472 + Safran Jeans

Happy Fall friends! I am super excited to be a part of the Style Maker Fabrics Fall/Winter Blog Tour. It was so fun to be a stop for their Spring Tour, and I’m thrilled to be back. I’m always impressed with Michelle’s fabric picks for each new season. I know she spends a lot of time researching upcoming trends and colors, so I always feel confident in anything I pick from her website.

Michelle is so awesome, and let’s us bloggers of the tour pick our fabric of choice from her new inventory, and sew up anything we want to with it. I chose two fabrics, this yummy pumpkin/mustard/slate plaid and this dark navy stretch denim.

With the plaid fabric, I decided to make a collared button down shirt, with a twist. I used McCall’s new pattern just out for fall: M7472. This pattern comes with a few different options (I love them all), but I really fell in love with view F for it’s long panels and side vents. So I sewed up view F, but note that I shortened each panel by 4″. I also omitted the breast pocket option.

My shirt was pretty standard for typical button down shirt construction. Although, I did learn a new tip that I wish I would have known about earlier. McCall’s suggests first basting with a longer stitch length along the raw hemline of the bottom of the shirt at 1/4″ (leaving long tails), and then when ironing the hem up, slightly pulling the threads to get the curved edge to ease all the extra fullness into place, giving a really beautiful rounded edge when finished. I will be doing this on all my curved/rounded hems from now on! Thanks McCall’s!

The length of the panels really add a cool tunic like vibe to this shirt. I also love the raglan sleeves on this pattern, giving it a more casual look. I cut my button band pieces on the bias, and everything else on grain.

I really love the muted colors in this fabric, and also the corded texture. It’s thick without being too thick or too thin. It’s a really great weight fabric for fall weather.

Living in Utah, I just HAD to take advantage of the gorgeous fall colors in our mountains right now. I thought the bright yellows, greens and oranges would be the perfect back drop for this fabric. So, I bribed my sister (with McDonald’s, of course) to drive me up the famous Alpine Loop (along with everyone else in Utah). But I have to say, I didn’t mind the cat calls. (Or maybe they were just making fun of me… probably). If you ever find yourself in Utah around this time of year, put the Alpine Loop on your to-do list… stunning views for miles!!

(Don’t mind the awkward button/necklace placement in this next photo:)

Now this brings me to my new favroite jeans. Michelle recommended this stretch denim for the pattern I wanted to use: Deer and Doe’s newest release, the Safran Pants. A good dark wash skinny jeans is essential to my fall wardrobe, and when I saw this new pattern, I fell in love. High waist: check, skinny leg: check, cool pockets: check = sold.

Style Maker Fabrics is becoming a one stop shop, they now carry both fabric and patterns! You can purchase this pattern on their website too, along with other great pattern options.

I just have to put in a quick plug here. I love Style Maker Fabrics AND Michelle because I can go to her and say, “I want to make this pattern, with this kind of look in mind, what fabric would you recommend?”. Right away she answers back with a couple of perfect options. She really knows her inventory, and what fabrics work well with specific patterns. She’s really great.

Back to the pants! (Note: I am wearing these jeans in every picture, but I chose to photograph them specifically with a different top to show off the front waist and back side details. You can read more about this shirt here).

It took me all of three nights to make these. (A night being about 2-4 hours, this is including cut time). Really simple to cut, really easy to sew. The directions are great. I only had a hard time with the front pockets, the diagram picture is a little confusing for this step, but I figured it out and they sewed up beautifully. This is a great pattern to begin with if you are a little nervous about making jeans.

Fit wise, I had to grade between two sizes from my waist to my hips. I cut a size 38 for my waist, and graded down to a 36 from my hips on down to the hem. I was a little nervous about the (what seemed like) curvy nature of these pants, but this was not an issue at all for my hip-less figure. For a closer fit, I took in my side seams about a 1/2″ on each side before sewing on my waistband. I’m really happy with the results. The fit is fabulous!

When this pattern was released, I read through a few of Deer and Doe’s pattern reviewers blog posts for this pattern. Katie of What Katie Sews did a really cool staggered raw hem on her jeans, and being obsessed with this trend, I knew I would try this too and I really love the results. For a more subtle but still trendy look, I think you could also do a slightly cropped straight raw hem too.