Our intent has always been to inspire and show you and our growing community what these patterns look like on a real person and give you tips to find the confidence to sew your own clothes.
Our Thursday timings have been going on for over 3 years now with more than 230 garments made! It has become a tradition in my life which is enriching and one of the sweetest times I have to look forward to! Laurel and I love to look through the fabric and all the patterns first and then we go out to lunch. There are so many fine places in Berkeley to eat!
What tradition surrounding fabric would you love to create more of in 2017? The sanctuary at Stonemountain is there for you to create your own traditions with friends and family!
Way back in January of this year, we proclaimed 2016 as the Year of the Indie Pattern. We wanted to celebrate all of the amazing independent pattern designers out there and share their great work. Do you remember this awesome list we put together? We carry all of these independent pattern companies and more on our website. You can shop them here or in our store.
Well, we've been super busy this year working through our collection of incredible independent patterns. This year alone we've made dozens of garments for the Fabric Lady blog. We are having so much fun sewing with you and we hope to bring even more inspiration and fun into 2017!
Below you'll see just some of the patterns we've made up this year. Looking back, we've maintained a pretty good balance between dresses and separates. I love looking back knowing that every piece was made with love and in Stonemountain fabric!
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Cabin Dress and Top by Blueprints For Sewing
Both Laurel and I have made this great top several times (also a dress, which is below). The Cabin can be made using any type of fabric. This zebra polyester crepe is wonderfully flowing, but the dress that Zan is modeling was made from one of our 100% cotton double gauze fabrics.
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Marianne Dress by Christine Haynes
We've made so many pieces this year, it's been hard to keep up with the blogging! While we haven't gotten a chance to blog about this one, we do love the Marianne Dress from Christine Haynes. A great knit alternative to a woven shift dress, this piece is comfortable like a t-shirt, with length of a dress. Great paired with leggings or alone.
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Ginger Jeans by Closet Case Files
Ginger Jeans have a modern and flattering cut with subtly shaped back pockets, slimming side seams, and a higher back rise to prevent "peekabooty." They are designed for stretch denim, so we chose a beautiful soft indigo denim with Lycra. (You can browse our bottom weight fabrics—stretch and non stretch—here.) And just to be uber creative, we topstitched our jeans in neon blue thread! Check out our selection of neon topstitching thread here! It's details like this that make the garments we create that much more special.
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Arum Dress by Deer and Doe
We love this pattern for its easy style and bonus: it looks great on all body types. Laurel used one of our heavy ponte knits, even though the pattern calls for a woven fabric. I love the detail of the faux leather patch pockets - she just used a pocket pattern from another pattern and added them to the sides. Suzan's version is in a flowey rayon. It looks polished while having that secret pajama feel.
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Old Mexico Dress and Top by Folkwear
Folkwear is a pattern line we have carried for years - one of the original indie pattern lines! I haven't chosen a garment from them in recent years, so I thought it was time to add the Old Mexico Dress. It the perfect little top to wear with jeans, and giving a nod to my ethereal/hippie side, I chose a soft Liberty Tana Lawn print filled with suns, moons, and near east images. The top is super easy to make and I know my astrology friends are going to want one as well.
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Lark Tee by Grainline Studio
One of our newer t-shirt patterns is the Lark Tee from Grainline Studio. There are sixteen different ways to make up this simple tee-shirt with its modern, slim styling. With something as simple as a t-shirt, it's all about fabric choice. The simple lines of the Lark Tee allow you to be the designer, making the t-shirt uniquely you. The fabric I chose was a bold, graphic rayon knit with a huge border and repeat of the design.
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Lela Tunic and Blouse by Green Bee
The Lela is a great pattern; it's easy and fast to work up. You could easily add length to the hem and use it for an "apres-pool" dress...and of course the blouse length would be perfect with jeans or crop pants this summer. you could also shorten the sleeves by leaving off the band.
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Pilvi Coat by Lotta Jansdotter
We are always looking for great books and magazines to inspire us on our sewing journeys. Sometimes it's just a photo of a dress in a catalog or fashion magazine that we wish we had a pattern for, and other times we find a sewing book with a photo of a cute pair of pants to be made. When we first got Lotta Jansdotter's new book Everyday Style, we knew we had to make something!Thumbing through the beautiful pages filled with stories of real women and exotic travels we found the Pilvi Coat, a simple design for either a coat or a shorter jacket. It's perfect for the beginner (look out for a sewalong!) because it is unlined, with raglan sleeves and no closures. Suzan chose a beautiful boiled wool-viscose for her first Pilvi.
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Sudley by Megan Neilsen
We chose Megan Nielsen's Sudley Dress & Blouse pattern. We love it because of the variety of looks that you can achieve with just this one pattern. An added bonus it that the back is the same as the front, so the keyhole opening can be worn both ways!
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Bettine by Tilly and the Buttons
I love this dress. Let me say that again. I love this dress. The fabric is soft and drapes beautifully - who doesn't love all the gorgeous rayons by Cotton + Steel? It's not that difficult to make either. I had to laugh when Laurel (who you know is an accomplished seamstress) sewed the entire skirt on backwards and had to rip it all off and start again. Nobody's perfect!
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Dress No. 1 and Pants No. 1 by 100 Acts of Sewing
We are having a ball seeing the diversity that can be achieved with one classically simple pattern: Dress No.1 from Sonya Philip's indie pattern line, 100 Acts of Sewing. The drawing is deceptively simple, but just like her Pants No.1 pattern that gets our rave reviews. This dress pattern is as versatile as it is simple.
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Renfrew by Sewaholic
Sewaholic's Renfrew top features three different neckline treatments and three different sleeves. Many times sewists will want to keep the basic shape of a pattern design but make some changes to the pattern to make it their own. The Renfrew top does it for you!
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Betty Dress by Sew Over It
For our Lizzie House garment, we chose to bring a little "Betty" into our wardrobe. Sew Over It, one of our new indie pattern lines, seemed to be channeling a little style from the ladies in the hit series Mad Men. We loved Betty Draper's on screen spirit and the chic 50's vintage look she inspires.
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Camas Blouse by Thread Theory
Enjoy the unrestricted comfort of a t-shirt and the put together elegance of a blouse. This blouse is designed to be COMFORTABLE and can be sewn in knits or stretch woven fabrics. It features shoulder and back yokes, elegant gathering, and a flattering curved v-shaped neckline placket.The gathers create a flattering shape that is loose enough to float over the body rather than cling to it. The delicately curved hem can be tucked into trousers and skirts or can be left loose to float over skinny jeans. The slim sleeves end just below the elbow to create the perfect multi-season blouse. Instructions detail how to create a variety of closures - learn how to add buttonholes to a knit placket, add snaps or create a pull over blouse and skip button holes entirely. Fabric requirements are included for both a color blocked blouse and a blouse made from one fabric.
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Tendril Dress by A Verb for Keeping Warm
The Tendril is a bias cut dress which shares the common characteristic of wrapping itself around the body, clinging to our curves in the most flattering of ways. It's no accident that the most luscious of silk nightgowns we love are cut on the bias in this same manner.The Tendril is an easy pattern, with only two pieces, but as the designer suggests, you will learn a little about French seams and sewing on the bias of the fabric.
With love and blessings,
Suzan Steinberg & the amazing ladies of Stonemountain & Daughter
I would love to hear about what you are inspired to make. If you have a moment, please leave me a message here to let me know that you are finding this information helpful and inspiring.
Check out the Stonemountain Blog for our favorite notions, patterns and fabrics of 2016!
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