Fall is my very favorite garment-making time. I love being able to sew comfy clothes to go along with my favorite autumn activities like having bonfires and heading out to the pumpkin patch. Stylemaker Fabrics is an amazing resource to make all of that sewing happen. Michelle, the owner, does her trend research and sources beautiful garment substrates. Most often, these are deadstock fabrics, which are leftover from other manufacturer’s products. I love being able to use these types of fabric as a small step to keep them out of our landfills.
Stylemaker Fabrics new fall release includes over 150 new fabrics and it was SO hard to narrow down what I wanted to make with these lovelies. I battled between something fun with a lot of personality, like a large print maxi dress. But I know I’ll get the most wear out of my “mom uniform” — a loose-stretchy top with a pair of jeans. It sounds boring, but I knew I could take it all up a notch with my fabrics!
ginger Jeans
If I’m forced out of athleisure clothing, I only wear blue or black jeans…with the occasional olive twill pants thrown in. So, I thought a pair of statement pants would help me elevate my fall wardrobe with color alone. I could have a pair of comfort-zone skinny jeans made of this Stretch Cotton Sateen in solid Cranberry for a pair of Ginger Jeans AND have an interesting garment to bring life into my wardrobe. This deep saturated gem tone is a great color that is a lot of fun, but dark enough to be everyday chic.
I’ve made a few pairs of pants before like these Chi-town Chinos and have altered quite a few ready-to-wear pants, so I know the modifications I have to generally make. It sounds like a lot to do, but you will get the hang of it as you test and see what works with your body shape.
With the Ginger Jeans, I made the following adjustments to the pattern:
- Shortened length by 3 3/8″
- Graded from an 8 waist to a 10 hip and back to 8 legs
- Removed additional 1/2″ out of back yoke
- Deepened crotch curve by 1/2″ to remove bagginess below the seat
- Extended crotch curve by 1/2″ to eliminate the wedgie look
- Made a 1/4″ calf extension to remove bagginess around the knees
If you are looking for hardware, Stylemaker fabrics carries plenty of kits you can find here. I mixed up the zipper from a kit along with some hardware I already had in my own stash.
I’ve been wearing these pants around town to truly get a feel for them, and I’m impressed with both the stretch AND recovery from this fabric. There is great movement without it being too constricting. The Stretch Cotton Sateen in solid Cranberry also doesn’t leave deep wrinkles like with 100% cotton fabrics, so that’s a huge perk for this Uber-mom driver!
Sunday Everyday Sweater
With the 90s on trend and athleisure still full swing, sweatshirts are either oversized (which looks ridiculous on 5’3″ me) or cropped, which doesn’t work with my modesty level at all…I’m keeping this belly under wraps! But, I figured I could work the short, boxy sweatshirt look , but still be covered with the cropped version of the Sunday Everyday Sweater by Ensemble Patterns. This pattern has a generous fit with dropped shoulders and dolman-esque sleeves, but provides a slight cocoon shape with a hem band to keep everything at bay 😉
I made the Basic version before, which you can find here, and knew I could size down and still get the oversized look and feel I was going for. My modifications are as follows:
- sized down based on measurements to a 6
- shortened sleeves by 2″
- narrowed cuffs by 1/2″
- shortened hem band by 3″ to maintain the cropped length
This Cozy Stripe Sweatshirt Fleece is such a dream! It was the perfect weight for this pattern and the fleece on the wrong side of the fabric is just so incredibly soft. I think the heather gray stripes must make it extra cozy 😉 This sweatshirt will definitely be a wardrobe staple in the car-pool line. I already want to wear it everyday!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Stylemaker Fall Tour inspiration and links here! Tomorrow, Beth with Sew DIY will reveal her make. Below is the entire tour card if you would like to follow along via Instagram as well.
What are you making this fall???
Happy Sewing Friends!
Cristy
Fabric was provided by Stylemaker Fabrics for this post. All opinions are genuinely my own.