Hello everyone!  I am honored to be joining a group of lovely seamstresses for the Style Maker Fabrics – Spring Style Tour 2017.  Michelle, owner of Style Maker Fabrics, contacted me with an invitation to join the Tour this season and I accepted with much gratitude.  I followed the 2016 Fall Tour and it was so much fun to see which fabrics the ladies had chosen and what they created.  Until then, I had not heard of this company.  On Day Two of that tour, Lindsey, of Inside the Hem, showcased an amazing Burgundy & Black Jacquard Double Knit fabric on her YouTube channel and I fell in LOVE with it.  Because she presented her designs via VIDEO, I was able to see the movement in the fabric, and how lovely it draped.  I went to the Style Maker Fabrics website to order the fabric at that time, and it remains in my stash, waiting for the perfect occasion to be sewn.

To prepare for the Tour, Michelle presented us with swatches of her beautiful Spring Collection Fabrics to choose whatever we wanted to use for creating Spring garments.  What a clever way to promote your new merchandise so that the sewing community can get a glimpse of what you have to offer.  As I mentioned above, I didn’t know about the company until I saw the tour.  I can’t help but imagine there are many others out there who aren’t aware of this awesome resource, and the Tours are a great marketing tool.

I especially love their website layout.  Michelle has made it extremely easy to find what you’re looking for, by organizing the fabrics into several categories, such as; color, fabric type, garment type, and latest trends.  What I find particularly great about this type of layout is the ease it presents to beginners, those who don’t have much experience with choosing fabrics yet.  So, if I’m uncertain about what type of fabric to choose for a pair of pants, I can click on “Fabrics,” then “Garment Type,” and “Pants.”  The screen opens to many choices for both woven and knit fabrics.  Then, I can click on the item of my choice to get details on that particular fabric. Michelle has done a great job at eliminating the guess work and creating a user friendly, well designed space to shop fabrics online.

If you decide to shop their website before April 2nd, you can take advantage of the special offer.  Now through Sunday, April 2, 2017, enjoy $5 US shipping and discounted international rates! Any order, any size, ships for just $5.  Is that great or what?!  Don’t delay!  Get to shopping (after checking out my fabric choice–Hahaha!)!

Disclaimer: I was given the fabric used for this dress, in exchange for today’s blog post.  I am not affiliated with Style Maker Fabrics and have received no other compensation for this post.  All opinions stated within this post are my own.

An attraction to bold colors drew my attention to this Retro Sunshine Floral Rayon Crepe Aqua fabric.  I absolutely love the weight and feel of this gorgeous textile.  It’s light, airy, drapes like silk, and makes me happy.  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and I didn’t have to wait long because Style Maker Fabrics has a great turnaround time with their shipping.

So, after being totally drawn to the fabric, you would think that I was good to go right?  Wrong!  Choosing the fabric was easy.  Now, all I needed to do was choose a pattern, calculate the needed yardage, then place my order.  This is where the drama began.  I went through almost every pattern in my stash.  I have so many that would be amazing with this fabric, so it was difficult to choose.

After several days of indecisiveness, I was finally able to narrow my pattern choice by process of elimination.  If it didn’t meet all three requirements below, it was removed from the pile of possibilities.

1. It had to be loose fitting, nice for lounging around the house.
2. It needed to have simple design lines, so that the fabric could SHINE (so no darts or pleats.)
3. I wanted a piece that I could use for layering.

I settled for McCall’s 7562 because it fit all the above criteria.  Whew!  Exhale!  It’s a cute, comfortable dress for lounging around the house.  It is absent of darts and pleats, with minimal details.  Finally, it can be layered over leggings or jeans for an outdoor, casual look.  I didn’t check the positioning of the slits before sewing, and they’re too high for my comfort, so I MUST wear something underneath at all times when outdoors.

I combined Views C & D to create the look.  A Sharp/Microtex machine needle (size 70/10 or 60/8) works well with this fabric.  French seams are ideal for sheer fabrics, or you can use your serger.  The rolled hem technique was used for all my hems.

I’m loving the versatility of this dress.  Not only is it great for lounging, but I can throw on my white leggings and white lace sneakers; tie the sash around my waist, grab a tote bag–and I’m ready to run errands around town.  For date night with my husband, I thought it would be nice to give it a dressy look by tying the sash around my neck (say whaaat?) and stepping into a pair of lace-up sandal heels.  Yeah, I plan to get lots of wear from this one.

Create the Look!

• Pattern: McCall’s 7562 (Views C & D combined)
• Fabric: Rayon Crepe

If you’ve missed days 1 – 9 of the Spring Style Tour, here’s the schedule.  You may check out all these lovely ladies and see what gorgeous fabrics were chosen to create their fabulous spring outfits.  Up next on the blog tour is Erin at Sewbon.com.  Make sure you head over to her space tomorrow for more fabulous spring goodness.

Spring Style Blog Tour Line Up | Style Maker Fabrics

3/20 | 3/21 | 3/22 | 3/23 | 3/24 | 3/25 | 3/26 | 3/27 | 3/28 | 3/29 | 3/30 | 3/31

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember:  When you live in your DESIGN, it is from there that God SHINES!

Anita

(All Photos Courtesy of CEMO!)