Summer floral tunic with My Fabric Designs

Time to show you some unselfish sewing - although modeled by me. I made a tunic top for my mom using a fabric I designed via myfabricdesigns.com. I think this is my most successful fabric yet, with the caveat that I have two more waiting to be sewn up that are also really great.

The floral might be a bit too much for some, but I was going for a Hawaiian style fabric based on my starting point, which was a photo I took of one of my hibiscus plant blooms.



We took these photos around 7:00 in the evening, so the colors might not be as bright as in full daylight. But you get the idea!

I have made so many tunic tops using this self-made pattern. I created the pattern by copying a tunic top that my mom has which she bought at Macy's a few years ago. I will put links to the other tunic tops below.

Here's a look at it on the dress form.



I found the contrast linen fabric at Stone Mountain fabrics in Berkeley. I like to use linen for the contrast placket and sleeve bands on these tops even though I don't ordinarily like linen, but in this instance it gives such a nice crisp finish.

Have you wanted to design your own fabric? I find it a bit challenging as I am not much of an artist but once I got the idea to manipulate photographs then it was more fun. FYI: My Fabric Designs offered me an opportunity to try their fabrics so this fabric was provided to me at no charge.

They have a design tool on their website, but I find it easier to create something in Photoshop and then upload the jpeg. I thought you might like to see some of the versions I went through in order to get this final fabric, so I made a collage of the various files that I had played around with until I got a final version.



I started with a photo of a single hibiscus bloom, which I extracted from the background. Then I played around with the pattern repeat, and tried some of the various filters like colored pencil or cartoon, to manipulate the flower. I thought about extracting the shapes and then coloring it in but that seemed quite difficult. It seemed to need more to the pattern so I added the same flower in different sizes and layers. Once I had a layout of the various flowers I liked then I used the mosaic filter. That looked Ok but seemed to need a different background. So I tried different backgrounds and thought the royal blue was pretty against the pinks of the flowers. Adding back the mosaic filter I then changed the pattern repeat orientation and had my final jpeg to upload to their site.

Here is the fabric before cutting. This is their cotton sateen - which is quite lightweight. Most cotton sateens I buy are much heavier, I find that this fabric is much more similar to a cotton voile. As I mentioned in one of my prior posts about My Fabric Designs, if you are interested I strongly suggest you order the swatch book which is $ 5.00 and has good size swatches of all their fabrics so you can actually see what the fabric feels like and how the colors print on the various fibers.



A closer look at the linen placket. I really love the colors in this fabric. When I first ordered it I only ordered one yard - as I was still figuring out how to use the site, and my mother saw it and said "oh I would love a top in that fabric!". So I ordered more, this time 2 yards so that I would have enough to make the top. The second piece of yardage is the exact same print as the first so that is a nice result. I can use the remainder from her top and then the original 1 yard to make something for myself :)







I have a piece of silk fabric that I ordered and the more I look at it the more I like it - consequently I am unable to decide how to use it, other than a top. I have 2 yards so plenty for a summer top, or even a long sleeve blouse. Pattern paralysis. Although it is kind of a summery color. I was at Nordstroms yesterday and took a spin around the designer department - I love to do that, inspecting all the high end stuff. In particular petting the Armani Collezioni. Yummy fabrics and soft tailoring. But I say a couple of Rebecca Taylor tops, very similar to the Vogue patterns of her designs, so I'm leaning that way.

As for this fabric - I might just make another tunic top for myself!





Here are links to the other items I have made using fabric from My Fabric Designs.

Cotton Poplin summer dress

Cotton knit skirt and top

and here are links to a lot of different tunic tops.
Cotton voile tunic top
Garment clone tunic top - this is the first one I did.
Rayon fabric from Girl Charlee tunic top - scroll to middle of post.
Quilting cotton tunic top

and there are others but those are the ones made from this basic pattern. I wasn't that big of a fan of the tunic top style  - I always thought it looked a bit 70's caftan, and not in a good way. But safe to say I am now a convert, in the right fabric it is a really great wardrobe addition.

More tops coming up on the blog next, as I am trying to make separates after my recent run of dresses. Not that a dress didn't sneak in there - which is a Vogue designer pattern repeat too! I will leave you guessing as to which one.

Stay cool  - I think there is a heat wave just about everywhere in the US. And to prove that the SF Bay Area has a zillion different climate zones, plus further proof that tourists should always pack a jacket I give you my iPhone screen caps from last night at 6pm. My house vs. SF downtown. And I could be there in about 25 minutes so it is not very far (with no traffic - I calculate all distances using the no traffic baseline. Which might explain why I am often late. We are getting like LA around here, the traffic is madness!)

Yes, 102˚F at 6pm. and now today is supposed to be hotter!  After all we console ourselves with the time worn phrase "at least there's no humidity." Hey, I wish for summer so I can't complain. The tomatoes are ripe and my basil is growing like crazy. Last night I made some crispy pizza with basil, yellow tomatoes and goat cheese and then sliced it up and put it in the freezer. Perfect for a quick appetizer one of these warm evenings.

Happy summer sewing, Beth

Think Pink! more fabric designs with McCalls 6513 and Simplicity 5914

Thanks everyone for all the great comments on my denim shirtdress. Sounds like there are a lot of these in the works - and perhaps we can all wear/post on the same day. #denimshirtdressday   That would be fun. Also I have had some questions on my last few items, so I will try to answer those in my next Random Threads post, maybe early next week.

In other news, all the classes I will be teaching at Sips N Sews Sewing Studio in San Francisco are now listed on their website, with descriptions etc. So check it out and register! Scroll down to the section on single day workshops. I hope to see/meet some of you there. I'm working on some other technique based workshops for the following months. I'm thinking of doing a collar and lapels workshop and also welt pockets/bound buttonholes. These would be hands-on sessions where I demonstrate plus have lots of practice, students would make samples and learn how to do the techniques on any pattern. If you are in the area and are interested let me know what class topics you would like to have.

Back to my latest project, using a fabric I designed on My Fabric Designs. This is a company where you can upload a design or use their website tools to create a fabric design and then have it printed on any number of different textile options they offer. My first fabric was a cotton poplin which I sewed up into a dress, here is that blog post. For this one I decided to try their organic cotton interlock knit which is 100% cotton (no spandex). The printable width is 58" on this fabric. They have a few other cotton knits, including one called cotton slinky knit - that one is 94%cotton, 6% spandex, it has a 48" wide printable area and in the sample swatch book the edge is curling which indicates how the fabric might behave. If you are at all interested in doing designs I suggest you order the swatch book, it is $5.00 and the swatches are a good size (5" x 7") and also printed so you can see how the colors look on each fabric option.

Once again I don't feel like I am an artist at all - so I have stayed with graphic prints that I created in Photoshop. I am much more attracted by color so I start with a color I like and go from there.



I made this random dots print that seemed suitable for a cotton knit. For the top I used one of my favorite patterns, McCalls 6513 which I have used before, first here and 2nd here. On the 2nd version there is lots of fitting info (for a simple top I had to do a good amount of adjusting, but worthwhile to get a nicely fitting knit top).




As they say on those late night infomercials - "But wait, there's more!" 

Since I had 2 yards of 58" wide fabric, I was determined to eke out a skirt from the fabric as well. It kind of gives the appearance of a wrap dress with the added bonus of a top that I can wear with other things as shown above. Score!



Yes I am a fabric cutting ninja! OK maybe a slight exaggeration but I do love to squeeze a pattern or two onto the least possible fabric. Something about that just warms my miserly heart. Which means often I buy 2 or 2.5 yards of some fabric and then squeeze a pattern onto 75% of that fabric, leaving me with 1/2 yard or so of something that is really of no use. Which I save anyway...thinking that someday I will create some kind of color block item that needs just that scrap to complete it.
However for this one I had shreds remaining. Which is great!

Dress form pics so you can see the print a little better. This pattern is super easy to adjust, it is a Palmer and Pletsch pattern so it has all the adjustments built onto the pattern pieces, very good for learning how to do a lot of different adjustments. And princess seams so you can shape as you sew.







For the skirt I kind of winged it. The pattern is one that has been in my file for ages - I always have it in the back of my mind for just this type of thing and finally I used it. Although I did a lot of fitting after I cut it out. I think I did a size 12, with adding 1 inch on the side seams for fit insurance.  and then shortened from the waist as it was way too long for the look I wanted. Then the whole thing was kind of big so I tapered all the princess seams down about 12 inches - so it would keep the flare below the hip. Super easy skirt to make and a great bottom half for a faux-wrap dress. The pattern is a bit misleading, I made the Version B but it is not at all as tulip-y at the hem as it appears on the pattern picture. Perhaps in a more structured fabric it would be. I think my finished skirt is about 21" long.



So that's the latest on my fabric designing efforts. I just created another one and this time ordered the silk crepe de chine so I am looking forward to making a floaty summer top with that. Disclosure:  My Fabric designs have provided me with an allowance to create fabric each month. Thus far I have been really impressed with the quality of the fabric, although I find designing a bit of a challenge.

Up next, another new silhouette for me (that recent BurdaStyle pattern release Mod Style really grabbed me). And some prep work for my classes in May.

Happy Spring Sewing, Beth

and today's garden photo - this time of year it has to be roses. Here's one of the new ones, I just added to the front area. It is a Pink Peace, and I am not so sure about it. I tried to find new roses to replace some very old and tired ones, so researched what would do well in our super hot summers. The blooms on this just didn't last more than a day or two which seems wrong, but very pretty when they are opening. Although most of the roses seem a bit wimpy the first year or two and then really take off after that. Fingers crossed :)

My Fabric Designs and a new summer dress

Have you wanted to design your own fabric? I have always thought it would be fun and a great way to get all the colors I want (which might just be too many for a lot of people). Recently I was contacted by My Fabric Designs and offered the opportunity to try out their fabric. Why not jump to the end of the story?  I am impressed.

They have a lot of different fabric choices including cotton voile, cotton sateen and poplin, a cotton silk blend (which is luscious and I want to try soon). Also silk crepe de chine, a variety of knits, polyester woven and knit, some fabrics suitable for athletic wear and also for home dec or quilting. So quite a variety. Since I am only interested in making clothes  - for the most part - I decided to try the cotton poplin and start with one color on a white background.

I am so far from being artistic in terms of painting, drawing or anything like that, consequently I created something in Photoshop and then did some research on repeating patterns. The My Fabric Designs website has a tool to upload or create patterns and then further tools that tile or place the graphic in different ways. For this first one I used some basic edits to have a repeating pattern without obvious seams where the print repeats. I also figured using a small and busy print would disguise that issue. Once I saw the finished fabric it actually showed me more about how it works so I will apply that for another one.

The fabric quality is really nice. The cotton poplin has a printed area of 42 inches wide so I ordered 3 yards. I figured I would make a dress or a shirt but when it arrived I decided on summer dress. In my next post I will give some more details on this dress as it is a mashup of two Simplicity Amazing fit patterns and I think fairly successful. Also I washed it in the machine, on warm temp just like any other fabric and then put it in the dryer as I would cotton (on the high heat temp). It came out perfectly, the color seemed exactly the same as before washing, and then pressed very nicely.

If you are at all interested in trying this out I suggest you order the swatch book which is sold on their website, it is $ 5.00 and well worth it to see the various fabrics and also how the colors print on the different fibers. The printable yardage on the various fabrics ranges from 42 inches wide to 62 inches wide so you really have to look carefully when ordering so that you have enough fabric for your project. The prices range from around $ 17 per yard for the cotton to around $ 38 per yard for the silk so quite a spread.



I'm sure this fabric looks different in every photo which depends on the light and time of day and my not so great photography skills. My pal Alice took some pics of me wearing the dress, so here you go. This was in the early evening shade under the apple tree so the blue in the dress looks quite a bit different.
All in all I am really happy with this summery cotton dress and since it is about 90˚F here today it will get worn very soon!



Here is a better look at the fabric, close up on the dress form and juxtaposed with the actual image that I uploaded.



They have a lot of choices on the website, most of them seemed like quilting cottons at first glance but I suppose a lot of them can work for different garments, children's clothes or especially home dec like pillows or other home items. I think the option to create a fabric to recover dining room chairs or something like that would be fantastic if you had a specific pattern and color family that you wanted.

Here's another look at the whole dress. And my weirdly gleeful expression :)  I am probably just thinking summer ! sandals ! sleeveless dresses !   (my sympathies to those of you who are getting a late blast of winter - I hope it goes away soon)
Also that is a shower of pink and white petals on the ground, from the apple tree blossoming away behind me. Too bad they are not very nice apples, but someone told me yesterday that I should offer them to people in the area with horses and there are plenty of those nearby. So I will remember that when September comes.



I have ordered two other fabrics from My Fabric Designs, one is a cotton interlock knit and the other a cotton sateen. The knit is a really nice quality so that will make up a dress and the sateen is a bit more lightweight than I expected, more like a voile. I think it will make a pretty top.
You can also upload your designs and then order a fat quarter or a 5" x 7" swatch which seems like a good investment in order to see if you like the way it prints and the texture/weight of the fabric you choose.

Note: I received this fabric as an allowance from My Fabric Designs and was able to select the fabric and design of my choice, and sew whatever I chose from that fabric.

Next up more details on this particular dress, such as what pattern(s) I used, what Vogue pattern I wanted to use but was too cheap to buy since I have sooooo many patterns already, and how I fit as I sewed to good effect, and now have another bodice pattern which I can adapt to other things.

Happy spring sewing, 
Beth


The roses are blooming all over the garden this week, and this is such an old plant which gets a bit scraggly after first bloom, but I don't have the heart to remove it. Because that color! And a white Spanish lavender behind it that appeared next to the purple lavender. My favorite type of plants, the volunteers.