Style Maker Fabrics Spring Style Tour

*CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?*

We are now approaching the last stop on this 13-day Spring Tour. Please gather up your fabric and prepare to disembark the line!

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Awwwwww snap… just like that y’all the Style Maker Fabrics Spring Tour is quickly grinding to a halt. The tour has made 12 stops so far and you can head to this link to site-see (see what I did there?) all the amazing contributions made by these fabulous sewists.

It was an honor to participate in this tour and I gotta give a shoutout to Michelle and the Style Maker Fabrics team for having me! Hopefully you guys will enjoy this stop and maybe with a touch of luck, I’ll be back sometime in the future to bring you another one!

*a girl could hope right?!*

Formalities aside: Welcome to UNSEWCIAL, the home of bright colors, gingham and florals…because Spring… right? Truth is, warm weather, sporadic rain showers and fresh flowers in bloom signal Spring for many of you… but for me, it’s everyday life. Unsurprisingly, when it came to visualizing my tour outfit and choosing fabrics, I wanted a look that would reflect my bright, bold, fun personality… after all, I’s a island gyal!

…this is what I came up with!

THE BLAZER

I knew right away that a floral blazer would hit differently, and I just HAD to make one. Why? because:

1. Floral fabric = spring time madness; and

2. Friday Pattern Company have recently released the Heather Blazer which has been living rent free in my mind from drop.

I worked along with Michelle and ended up choosing this watercolor floral canvas fabric for my blazer, and this turquoise voile as a fun lining.

The Heather Blazer just about broke the internet, so I’m sure you know all about it. Buuuuuttt just for the sake of completeness, this blazer is designed to have a slightly oversized/relaxed fit, has a notched collar and includes optional patch pockets. The size chart ranges from an XS-7XL! Even though my measurements placed me in XL, I opted to size down to a large. Whilst I wanted to maintain the integrity of the blazer, I did not want to be drowning in fabric. I made several of my usual adjustments and sewed up a toile for fitting. If you’re interested in the fitting process, I saved them to the highlight bar on my Insta account!

The floral canvas fabric is a cotton/linen blend with shades of blue, yellow, green and purple flowers and foliage, on a cream base. As expected, it washed up and pressed beautifully and, as a stable fabric, it was a peach to cut and sew. The fabric is only 44” wide, so take that into consideration when placing your order.

The Heather calls for both woven and knit interfacing (also sent to me by Stylemaker Fabrics) and I was able to fuse them to my fabric quite easily. TBH I ironed more than I sewed, when it came to constructing this blazer. The fact is, lots of steam and a clapper (if you have one) help to mold and shape the lapel, as well as ensure flat, crisp seams. This fabric handled the steam and the pressure exceptionally well and I’d definitely recommend it for a project such as this.

The voile lining in turquoise was bold and maintained its colour even after the pre-wash. It is 100% cotton and feels like butter against my skin. IMO it makes for the perfect lining and I particularly love the dimension it adds to my blazer when I roll up the sleeves. This fabric comes in about a dozen colors, so I’m sure you’ll find one that you like!

I finished my blazer with a marble stamped flower button in teal and voila…the Heather Blazer was complete!

THE DRESS

Once I had finished up my jacket, I moved onto my second make. Initially, I wanted to make a shirt dress, because a button down with a blazer just seemed to make sense… you know? By the time I was ready to cut out my project, I had a change of heart. I had been working on a toile of McCalls 8179 just before my fabric parcel arrived, and I thought the silhouette of the dress would be perfect under the blazer. I made View B, but ditched the sleeves and added little gathered straps instead. It’s not that I don’t like the sleeves, because I do; it’s just that I wanted the blazer to remain the star of my look.

I used this beautiful 1/16” cotton gingham shirting in the colour lime, for the dress. The squares are so small, I didn’t even attempt a pattern match! The gingham is Pima Cotton and comes in 6 different colors. It washed and pressed nicely, was lightweight and soft against the skin.

I cut a size 14 at the neckline of this pattern, grading down to an 18 at the hip. I made some fitting adjustments and added 1 ½” in length at the hem. The dress is meant to be a mini, but without the additional length, my toile was bordering on indecent exposure! If i’m honest, I probably could have lengthened it just a touch more, but my legs are one of my best assets…so “if you got it flaunt it” *sing with me! lol

This dress was fully lined (also in the gingham fabric) and included boning in the side seams and an invisible zipper in the back. IMO the boning makes a noticeable difference in the fit of the dress: it provides more support and stops the dress from slipping down at the underarm.

I think the combination of the jacket and dress is a killer spring outfit and I am really happy with my choices. Once I had completed my outfit, I had a piece of each fabric left over and I knew I wanted to put them to good use. Sooooo…. keep reading!!!

THE EXTRAS

I had enough of the lining fabric to make an Ogden cami, even though the amount I requested was based on the fabric chart included in the Heather pattern. I did have to play a little fabric tetris to get all the pieces to fit, and ended up cutting the facing pieces on the cross grain. The Ogden is a wardrobe staple, and can be worn alone during the Spring and Summer, or layered up in cooler temps. I have made the pattern a few times before, but never in a solid colour so my wardrobe will welcome this addition!

With the leftover gingham material, I managed to whip up a gathered skirt: M8066 in view A. I lengthened the skirt pieces by an inch each, and shortened the elastic by about 2 inches. I’m not sure if it’s the type of elastic used, but I felt like the skirt was just too loose. I paired the cami with the skirt, and chucked my blazer over it, for a completely different spring look!

Finally, I had a half yard of the floral canvas fabric leftover, give or take. I saw my girl @keechiibstyle make a ‘Furoshiki bag’ on her Instagram feed sometime back, and had read her accompanying blog post. I followed her tutorial and whipped up this little bag to go with my outfit. It was Michael Kors who said “I’ve always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman’s outfit”, and I CERTAINLY endorse this message!

I didn’t have as much material as the tutorial required, but I was determined to make what I had, work. I chose an 18” zipper I already had in my stash and for the handles, I used two plastic resin bracelets… you know, these ones that were trending yearrrrrsssss ago! I’m so stoked with the final product. It’s too cute and really ties my outfits together.

When I picked my fabrics, I never thought I’d end up with a Spring capsule – the intention really was just a blazer and a shirt dress… but I am really happy with my collection.

WARNING: You go see this blazer nuff, til you sick a it ‘cause I.Just.Love.It!!!! Issa whole mood, I swear!

If you haven’t already, be sure to pop over to Style Maker Fabrics and pree all the pretty new fabrics. I’m sure you’ll find several that tickle your fancy!!!! Get those coins out and grab a few because life is too short to pass on good fabric. Plus, if you purchase before April 13th you get $5 shipping!!!

There were so many that I wanted to say ‘yes please’ to and I already know imma be broke for the rest of ‘Spring’, but at least i’ll have pretty fabrics to look at!!!!

One last thing before this stop terminates. I have to say a big ole thanks to my photographer @vipmediamontserrat for capturing my tour makes. Big up yuh self Dre…you the real deal!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, you have reached the end of the line. Thanks for choosing UNSEWCIAL.

*ALL CHANGE PLEASE*

  I’ll leave you to smell the flowers until your packages arrive!

Until next time,
xoxo

Kris