Along the lines of our recent reversible infinity scarf tutorial by our guest blogger NicoleAtHome, we bring you this cowl scarf by Melanie from The Littlest Studio. Melanie's blog was rated one of the top blogs by AllFreeSewing and CraftGossip. This project is easy to make, can be completed in about 10 minutes, and is the perfect quick winter project. She suggests that you use plaid fabric and minky fleece, (available on the fourth floor at Britex Fabrics) or any warm fuzzy fabric, but you can really use any kind of fabric. Just be sure to remember to use stretch stitches instead of straight stitches if you choose a fabric that stretches. You will need 1/4 yard of fabric that is at least 32" wide for the outer layer, 1/4 yard of fabric that is at least 32" wide for the inner layer and thread.
For Melanie's complete tutorial, please visit it here.

Come into Britex Fabrics for everything you need to create the most fabulous "ugly sweater" this holiday season! Check out our third floor notions in our brick-and-mortar store for all of the items pictured above and so much more.

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.

The Challenge: This week’s challenge was to create a streetwear look for the ‘Urban Jungle’. The contestants on the show went to Orlando Studios to see the new ‘Reign of Kong’ ride to get inspired for the jungle… I just watched the movie trailer.

According to a recent article by Bloglovin', The Edit, five major fashion trends this fall are velvet, checkered fabrics, (as we previously featured) flared sleeves, red boots, and the color pink. Come visit the second floor of our brick-an-mortar store to check out our amazing selection of velvet fabric, or the main floor for our selection of wool plaids and tweeds.

We also have a limited selection of plaids and checkered fabrics online. On the fourth floor you will find a wall full of leather of many colors, including red and pink.

 

With cooler autumn weather comes the opportunity to wear sweaters, long coats, plaid, wool, denim, jackets, boots and more. The people at Bloglovin' have compiled twenty looks to inspire your every day looks this fall, and we are inspired as well. Here are some of the looks they found, with similar fabric from our website to help get you started on some new projects.
 

If you like to keep up with the latest fashion trends and are a sewist who is inspired by current runway fashion, here is the forecast for the 12 hottest fashion trends for the fall according to Stylecaster.com. Included on their list is fur and faux fur, ruffles, shades of tan, gold metallic fabrics, bomber jackets, turtlenecks under dresses, plaid overcoats, dramatic off the shoulder blouses, dusty pink with bright yellow, pant suits with bold prints, floral prints and chokers. While all the necessary materials to create these trends are available at Britex Fabrics, today we will focus on three. Gold Metallic

www.stylecaster.com

Bright metallic fabrics, especially gold are the stand out fabrics gracing the runways this fall. What was once a trend for the less hip, metallic fabrics are all the rage. Britex Fabrics carries many fabrics that are similar to those used in the creation of some of the latest runway designs. This gold metallic and black fabric is available on the second floor of our brick-and-mortar store, it is a polyester and Lycra blend, it is 45" wide and $18.99 / yard. polyester / Lycra blend 45" wide $18.99 / yard   Dusty Pink and Yellow

www.stylecaster.com

At first glance, this color combination seems more appropriate for spring, however designers such as Ulla Johnson and Delpozo used turtlenecks and coats to give a more autumnal feel. We have an array of fabrics in Dusty pink and bright yellow, including wool, silk, linen and cotton. Pictured above are two fabrics available in 100% cotton on the second floor of our brick-and-mortar store. 100% cotton 60" wide Dusty pink $18.99 / yard 100% cotton 44" wide Bright yellow $15.99 / yard

Announcing free Britex buttons with purchase in our brick and mortar store! A new staff favorite is the new houndstooth one. Collect all six of these awesome buttons. Come in and make a purchase and any one of them can be yours!

Photo credit: Liz Clayman

I've kicked off the new year with a pretty busy schedule here at the Jamie Lau Designs studio. I just wrapped a photo shoot of my new textile designs and also added my latest Britex project to the shot list. With this post, I wanted to branch out from dresses and into the world of separates. I designed a pair of pleated shorts in one of my prints a few months ago and wanted to make the same cut, but in a different fabric. For this project, I selected the cream Windowpane Check Black and Carmine Wool Crepe for my checked ensemble. This wool crepe does not wrinkle and has a nice pebbly texture and soft weight. For the overall look, I found the smaller scale of checks appealing and was partially inspired by the geometric designs of André Courrèges and the playful, mod aesthetic of Foale and Tuffin.

 

(Left) Dress by André Courrèges, 1968; (Right) Marion Foale at the sewing machine, 1963

When I discovered the beautiful and vintage-y modern plaid at Britex, I knew I had found the fabric for which I had been searching.  I had in mind a short sleeve button-up shirt for my husband, but wanted something different than classic dress shirting.  This fab plaid completely fit the bill!   However, once I laid out the fabric and went to cut out my pattern, I realized I had a big challenge ahead of me.  Plaid.  Matching plaid is one issue; deciding in which direction the plaid should be arranged and the overall layout was the other.  Should the plaid on the yoke be diagonal?  If the yoke is on the straight grain, could the pockets be diagonal?  What about the placket??  I was completely paralyzed by indecision for a while, but after looking at some ready-to-wear men's tops, I opted to go for a straight-laced version with no diagonally arranged plaid pieces.  Really working the 70s vibe of the fabric might look great, but I wanted to be sure my husband would actually wear the shirt!