Hey! It's Shams from Communing with Fabric with another project made from a fabulous Britex fabric! For this project, my assignment was to choose one of Britex's beautiful wools. I visited the store just a couple days before I left for Europe to make my choice. After much deliberation, I selected Mock Patchwork Plaid Wool.

  Hey! It's Shams of Communing with Fabric with another garment made from a beautiful Britex fabric! For this project, my assignment was to choose a fabric from the Knits category. I quickly settled on this beautiful double-sided ponte made from cotton, polyester, and lycra.

Reversible Black and Cardinal Red Cotton Blend Knit Fabric Click the image to see this fabric on the Britex site. It's also available in sky blue (Note that some of the photos show this fabric as a bright red, but it's actually a heathered red in real life)

  This fabric is wonderful! It has more drape than some of its stiffer ponte cousins. It feels like a rayon and I was surprised to learn that it contains cotton, but no rayon. It is beefy, so it hangs nicely, but it's also a bit "sproingy". It presses beautifully. I threw it into the washer and dryer before cutting and it looked just the same afterwards. I didn't measure to determine the amount of shrinkage, but I suspect that it shrank a bit. Because it's a double knit, it's very easy to sew. If you are afraid of sewing knits, a ponte (double knit) fabric is a good way to get started. It doesn't curl at the edges due to it's double-sided construction. This ponte stretches in both directions, but it's also fairly stable. I wanted to feature both sides of the fabric and I seriously dithered about how to use it. I was torn between a top and a skirt and I knew exactly how I wanted to make each but, in the end, the skirt won out. I drafted a 7-gore skirt. Why 7 gores? I find the asymmetry of an uneven number of gores aesthetically pleasing. In order to use both sides of the fabric, I drafted the pattern with 1" seam allowances and a 1" hem. The only exception was the waist seam, which has a 1/2" seam allowance. I sewed the 1" seams with the black side facing the black side. I decided to funk it up by constructing it in a car wash style so I sewed each gore 15" down from the waist, and left the rest of the seam unsewn. I turned each seam allowance and hem segment to the red side and folded it under, turning the 1" seam allowance into a 1/2" trim. I secured each seam allowance, individually, to the red side by hand. You could do this by machine, but I like the effect of hand sewing—I have more control.   As part of this process, I mitered all 14 corners at the hemline. Mitering is important to manage the bulk that would result if you merely turned up the trim on each edge.   An advantage of such a clean finish is that the skirt is fully reversible! The red side features black trim, and the black side is solid black.   It might be summer elsewhere, but when I took these pics this morning it was 50°F, windy, foggy, wet, drippy, and misty. In short, it was COLD and more like winter weather than summer weather! I didn't include a pic of the waistband, and I never tuck a top, but I attached a casing for elastic using the black side of the fabric. Because of the car wash effect, both sides flash the reverse color as I move. This skirt is a lot of fun to wear!

Oh the Glory of Wool!

Jeff Root is a Local San Francisco Artist who creates beautiful Fiber Art using various Woolens

(Mostly found at here Britex!)

Our Main Floor is a playground for Wool Fabric which you will see here on these beautiful pieces of Art!

It doesn't stop there, he also creates Plush toys, Cartoons & Paintings! Jeff learned how to use a sewing machine at a very young age!

His mother taught sewing classes in their home when Jeff was a kid.  When Jeff and his brother were bored (during snowstorms, etc), they would sew beanbags, which evolved slowly into Plush toys.

Hi, it's Shams from Communing with Fabric with another garment made from a lovely Britex fabric!  

Hey, it's Shams from Communing with Fabric with another garment made from a lovely Britex fabric! Since spring fashions hit the stores earlier this year, I've been a little obsessed: I keep seeing a style of skinny pants called "joggers". I was particularly taken with joggers made from linen. Joggers typically (though not always) feature an elastic waist with a drawstring, patch pockets, and hems finished with either elastic or ribbing. You can see a few on my Joggers Pinterest page.

Hey, it's Shams from Communing with Fabric with another garment made from a lovely Britex fabric! Spring has officially sprung! I'm sure everyone, especially those on the east coast, are heaving a collective sigh a relief, yes? I know that my daughter, a San Francisco native who is attending university in Minnesota, is happy to see the thermostat climb.

Hey, Shams here with a project made from another gorgeous wool fabric from Britex! This time, I started with a 100% wool from the Mid/Light Weight category: Midweight Reversible Navy & Teal Wool

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My favorite season is fall, and favorites to make are jackets and coats, so I am excited to unveil my first coat project in at least six months. I had a lot of fun with this one! I started with two yards of a striking navy and turquoise coating (90% wool and 10% poly) from Britex. (You might want to note that Britex is having a 30% off sale beginning on Oct 13th, both online and in store.) I love the interplay of navy with turquoise, and this fabric has the look of a handwoven. It also has a wonderful selvedge that I was determined to feature. I wanted a lined coat, so I used a teal colored Bemberg lining.

Hi, Britex readers! I am Shams, and I blog over at Communing with Fabric. I am excited to join the ranks of Britex bloggers, and I am happy to share my first project as guest blogger! There is a bounty of riches to be found on britexfabrics.com. Where should a newbie guest blogger begin? As I love border prints, and I also have a soft spot for paisley fabrics, it didn't take me long to settle on this beautiful 100% viscose panel and border print from Italy. I made a bias, V-neck top using view C of Vogue 7906 (an out-of-print Vogue Basic Design) as a starting point. You might ask (and rightfully so), "Is this fabric a panel print? Or is it a border print? Which is it?" It's BOTH!

How was our big workshop space launch party, you ask? Amazing!

 

These ladies were spectacular, making our party a huge success. Each one offered their own unique glimpse into sewing, and consequently, there was something to inspire every type of sewer.