Style Maker Fabrics Spring Blog Tour

 

Hey everyone! I’m so excited to be invited to another Style Maker Fabrics blog tour. Michelle always does such a great job curating fabrics that are perfect for the trending colors and styles for each season, and I’m totally loving everything she has picked for spring 2017!

I decided to sew up a top and skirt for my post. I fell in love with this stunning tropical leaf stretch sateen (sadly, sold out now), and paired it with a crisp white striped seersucker for the top.

Let’s talk about the skirt first! I fell in love with this skirt I found on pinterest last year, and it was definitely my inspiration for this skirt. I’m loving all things tropical for spring/summer this year, so when I laid eyes on this stretch sateen I just KNEW I had to make something with it. I remembered the skirt I had pinned a while back and the rest was history. So again, this fabric is now sold out but Style Maker Fabrics has so many beautiful stretch sateens this year that would also be perfect for a full gathered skirt like this one. You should also check out all the fabulous tropical prints too!!

I used a self drafted pattern (super easy) for my skirt; I’ll walk you through how I made it:

Supplies: Fabric, fusible interfacing, matching invisible zipper (7-9″), hand sewing needle and matching thread.

We’ll need to make two pattern pieces.

1. Waistband: Measure your true waist. Mine is 27″, and I added another inch for a 1/2″ seam allowance on either side, so 28″ in total. I made the length 3″ to equal 1″ in length when finished. So I had a rectangle that was 28″ x 3″. Cut 1 on the fold of your fabric, cut 1 on the fold of the fusible interfacing.
2. Skirt: Measure your waist again and multiply it by 5. So mine came out to be 140″ (slightly rounded up). Now divide this number by 2, which gives us 70″. Decide how long you would like your skirt to be, I decided on 29″. So now you’ll have another rectangle that measures 70″x 29″. Make sure to mark on one side to cut on the fold. Cut 2 on the fold.
3. Putting the skirt together is really simple. There are lots of tutorials out there on pinterest too if you need a visual!
   1. Sew your side skirt panels right sides together. Finish seam alowances.
   2. Sew three rows of gathering stitched along the top of your skirt at 1/4″, 1/2″ and 5/8″.
   3. Interface your waistband using fusible interfacing. Iron one long end of the waistband in at 1/2″.
   4. Line up the center of your waistband (the edge not folded in) and top of the skirt, right sides together, and pin. Pin the edges of the skirt to the edges of the waistband, and gather the skirt evenly to the waistband, pinning as you go. Sew at 1/2″. Remove basting stitches.
   5. I really love this tutorial for sewing in an invisible zipper into a skirt with a waistband. Follow these steps.
   6. Hem your skirt, and done! (I hand hemmed mine).

It’s really super simple.

Now let’s chat about this top!! I am OBSESSED with all things ruffles for spring this year. I’ve had my eye on the Suzon Blouse by Republique Du Chiffon for a while now, and I thought it would be really pretty paired with this skirt in white. Again, I used this crisp white cotton striped seersucker fabric. I just love white for spring and summer.

A few things about this pattern! It was easy to put together. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. This pattern comes in French and English but unfortunately is only in print format currently. It also has a downloadable long sleeve add-on you can find at the bottom of the page of the pattern in the shop. I used this sleeve pattern to make my short sleeves by cutting it off at 9″ from the center top of the sleeve. This pattern does not include seam allowances, and I totally forgot!! Yikes! So I cut out my whole pattern without added seam allowance. Luckily, I had enough fabric to re-cut the collar and button bands. So, you’ll notice my darts are slightly higher than they should be, but other than that it turned out okay. There isn’t a set button hole guide for this pattern, and I’m not so sure about my button hole placement on this one. It works but the second button is kind of bugging me, it should be a little lower I think. Just some things to keep in mind when you go to sew up your own!! I don’t usually have enough time to sew up a muslin for most things I make, so sometimes it’s about trial and error! This top is still very wearable and I really love it. I also really love the structure this cotton seersucker gives to this top, it’s exactly how I envisioned it. Next time I want to try it in a rayon challis, or crepe, something with a little more drape.

I’m so happy with these fabrics and patterns I’ve paired them with. Make sure to check out the rest of the tour! There are so many amazing outfits and fabrics!! Be prepared to be inspired! Thanks for having me Michelle!!

 

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