The year of the Destiny wardrobe - 2018

This was our year. We changed the way we think about the clothing that we wear and more importantly, the clothing that we make for ourselves.  We saw the sewing community come alive - sharing their makes, re-thinking their wardrobes and making clothes that really matter.  Not sewing for sewing's sake, but sewing to unleash our inner creativity.  We thought about how clothes fit into our lives and how they made us feel, and we sewed with intention.

Loving my Wiksten jacket with my Linen Flint Pants!
Please enjoy clicking through all photos and makes for more information :)

So many of our community came to the sewing table fresh from the RTW world, wanting to better express their personalities in a real way.  Their respective ideas and dreams about life took shape in their wardrobes.  

"Sewing is about stepping toward and becoming our destiny. The clothes we create and sew are not only for ourselves, but also have a creative impact in our world.  As we see the difference we can make, we are empowered to create even more; this is our collective destiny."

We shared our creations on social media and we watched our community grow. More and more of us focused on independent pattern designers, the champions of online inspiration.  We led the charge toward creating Destiny wardrobes, providing a platform for creation, feedback, sharing and encouragement.

2018 was a great year - each of us in our own way made an impact on the collective sewing community. On this blog, we have tried to inspire our readers to create their own Destiny wardrobe by featuring Indie patterns and amazing fabrics. I of course reap the benefit of having someone make my wardrobe - I enjoy working with my team to feature the latest Indie patterns and fabrics, all just to inspire you to sew your wardrobe. Most of the garments are displayed in the store so our customers can see a finished garment - even before I get a chance to slip them on.

For the last year and a half, I am renewed with hope for our industry and my store, Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, as well. Our online presence and visibility has grown exponentially. What began in 1981 and flourished through the golden age of sewing garments (the 80's), quickly began to drop away for over 25 years. It's so heartening to me to watch it come back with strength, passion, quality, and an emphasis on global community. 

What is fueling this magical renaissance? The high quality of fabrics my buyers find from around the globe, the exceptional new patterns from indie designers, and you! Yes without sewists, we would be like a library with no readers. Our Instagram community is definitely embodying the best parts of what it means to be a fabric lover and sewist. We all share, care, and support each other in our love of sewing garments and finding the next best fabric and pattern to try.

Yes we do mail order!

Thanks for reading along and following my adventures in experimenting with all the new patterns and fabric!

2019 is going to be another amazing year with so many exciting things ahead for my blog here as well as my collaboration with my team of 5 managers, 22 sales associates, and my dear friend, sewist, and collaborator for this blog, Laurel. 

Fit & Fun days with Laurel

Welcome to the world of fabric pairings! One Thursday a month, Laurel and I begin by picking out the fabrics that speak to us and the patterns that cry out to be made. Oh what a dream this is! Perhaps someday you will be able to join us in the store as we figure out what fabrics and what patterns we want to make? It really is all about access to quality fabric and learning about how to "pair" it with the right pattern for your body. 

Welcome to Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics! The Maya Top by Marilla Walker, paired with Pants No. 1 by 100 Acts of Sewing (we added a mock-cuff on the pants)

Our favorite makes of 2018

And just in case you may have forgotten or your sewjo is languishing, let me remind you of our favorite makes in 2018...

All together it gets a thumbs up!The Strand Coat and Camber Set, by Merchant and Mills

The Scout Tee - by Grainline Studio

Another Favorite - Decades of Style's Three's a Charm Jacket

The Kochi Kimono by Papercut, paired with the Melilot by Deer and Doe. We featured this easy jacket pattern in several fabrics - Ikat, flannel, kolkata cloth and a yarn dyed cotton.

The Kalle Shirt - by Closet Case Patterns

River Dress by Megan Neilson with my Pilvi Jacket by Lotta Jansdotter!

Southport Dress by True Bias is a hit!

Cannot recommend this Cinema Dress by Leisl +Co. too much!

The Matilda Dress by Megan Nielsen with a gorgeous Rayon

Cotton Lander Pants by True Bias - 
I think everyone in the store used this pattern.

Lander Pants Revolution! Seen here are three 
of my five buying and social media team -
Catherine, Lauren, Olivia and myself (from left to right)

The Reeta Midi Dress, by Named. Such a classic shirtdress - awesome in a gorgeous floral Rayon!

The Weekend Getaway Dress by Liesl + Co. made out of a sandwiched rayon. 

The Wiksten Kimono - renamed the Wiksten Haori. Who doesn't love boiled wool? Such a great jacket, we're making it again in boiled wool, only the shorter version.

The Matcha Top, by Sew Liberated made out of a gorgeous silk crepe (added a little ruffle on the sleeves)

Who didn't make a Metamorphic Dress by Sew Liberated in 2018? So many folks on Instagram made this dress and we had to jump aboard and try it out of these two rayons!

The Stasia Dress, by Sew Liberated in a soft poly knit.

The River Dress by Megan Nielsen. We made this dress twice - the first version was a little tight in the bust so we graded it upward and it was perfect.  Rayon is a perfect fabric for this dress! And it has POCKETS! YAY! 

Looking forward to 2019

We will continue to feature Indie patterns in 2019, but with greater emphasis on the fabrics that make the pattern. Here are a couple of my latest tries to be featured in my next blogs.

Advanced peek at my Inari Crop Tee from Named and the Emerson Pants from True Bias.

The top is the Friday Raglan Blouse with my new favorite Emerson pants...

Loving my Thursdays with Laurel! I'm wearing the Reeta Midi Shirt Dress by Named
and Laurel is wearing Ebony by Closet Case 

What are you ready to create? I hope that you are inspired by seeing many of our favorite patterns and fabrics pairings. Please stop by my store in Berkeley, Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, or visit us online. We do swatches and answer any questions you may have about fabric "pairings" with patterns. Email my team at info@stonemountainfabric.com with any questions or swatch requests.

Many people who used to never buy fabric online are now seeing that they can! I believe what is happening is that people are learning how to feel with their vision. By seeing garments made up and following sewists on Instagram, we are able to "feel" the fabric and judge whether it would work up in the garment we are visioning. Give it a try or better yet, stop by and say hi in Berkeley the next time you are in the area. It's well worth the drive (or the flight) in!

Thanks again for following along and I hope that you find my journey useful and supportive to grow your own passion and visibility in our creative world.

creatively yours,

Suzan Steinberg

Owner, Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics

Since 1981, although I don't feel that old :)

4th Generation in the fabric business, 1919 - 2019

Sew Liberated patterns are so amazing!
This Stacia Dress would be so good for any body type in any quality knit - great for layering too!

If it matters, it's worth doing right!

Over the years we have talked about making muslins.  Not every garment needs a "trial run" to test the fit, but when you're not sure, it's better to make a muslin before cutting into your final fabric.  A good fit matters if we are to show our best selves.  The right style for our body type also matters, if we want to reflect who we really are.  And of course, our time matters, if we don't want to waste it making clothes that we will never wear.

Wearable Muslin

We like "wearable" muslins.  Why not make your trial pattern out of a less expensive fabric, but not so cheap and thin that it doesn't reflect a comparable outcome.  If you are eventually making a knit dress, by all means use a similar knit to make your muslin.  If it ends up fitting or just needing some minor adjustments, then you could end up with two garments.

You can ask any sewist what is the hardest garment to fit and it will be usually be pants. There are sewists/teachers who have devoted hours of instruction on making pants that fit...pants that flatter your figure...and pants that you will wear. The only way to ensure a modicum of success is to make a muslin first: if it's worth your time and energy, then it's worth doing right. Right?!

Lander Pants

Sometimes we are just not sure how a pant will look on our body shape.  There are so many variations of leg widths and lengths.  Big wide legs are trending this season, and True Bias's Lander pants are really popular – they have a little retro vibe that fits right into my Destiny Wardrobe. We've had some missteps with pants on my shape in the past (we even scrapped a finished pair once, they looked so awful), so now we always make a muslin.

We used an inexpensive bottom weight cotton to make our muslin.  The pattern's instructions are easy to follow and pretty simple to make.

Love the button fly front.

During the fitting process, we determined that the waist was probably a little big...

Nice fit in the seat, though!

I think these are a keeper!

Morgan Jeans

Making a muslin for jeans pattern is a no-brainer – jeans are fun, but they do have some tricky areas that you may want to test your skills during a trial run.  Closet Case's Morgan jeans are made with fabrics that have NO stretch, so getting a good fit may require some adjustments – you won't have the stretch to hide the fitting issues.

Laurel chose this woven midweight cotton/linen canvas fabric to make her muslin.  I should mention that she's had the pattern for almost a year and has been intimidated to start a pair - all because of getting the right fit. (Me-made jeans strike fear in even the expert sewists!). "Fitting Fear" keeps a lot of us from making our Destiny Wardrobes – we just have to slow down, breathe and go for it.

After sewing the Morgan Jeans together, give them a spin by modeling them in front of another person.  Laurel thought they looked pretty good from the front, but her non-sewing husband pointed out that there were some strange wrinkles in the back.

After some online research, she determined that a "flat bottom" adjustment was needed – basically, scooping out the back crotch to lower the natural curve. This is why we make muslins - she was able to correct the booty wrinkles. When you are ready for another pair, check out the Morgan Jeans Kit from Stonemountain complete with hardware!

Inari Tee Dress

Another reason to make a muslin is to ensure that a particular style ends up looking like what you expected. Everyone has a different body type, and just because the photo of a garment pattern looks great, it may not really work in reality. We love Named's "Inari" Tee dress and Crop Tee.  But not everyone can pull off a crop top.

Cutest look ever, but am I too old for this?!?

Only one way to find out.  We used some rayon scraps to make a muslin, and knowing that we might be a tad "mature" for that belly-showing thing, we cut the pattern a little longer. We also added a little width at the bottom.  The result is cute, but we're still not too sure if this fits our Destiny Wardrobe mindset.

Experiment and Be Brave

Not every muslin try will be successful, but that's the whole point.  We want our wardrobe and our garments to say something about who we are.  If they don't fit correctly or they just aren't rockin' on our bodies, then why bother. Sewing clothes that matter means that you take the time to chose carefully, both in fabrics and patterns. Do experiment with different styles – you might be surprised what looks good – that little dress that you thought would make you look frumpy might just be the right-sized pattern for you! We don't always know what we like until we see it for ourselves. So be brave, and make a muslin! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

As always, I am standing with you 
celebrating your creative potential.

Suzan Steinberg

Owner, Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley CA

Stay in touch and email me at fabriclady3@gmail.com

FabricLady Tested! These Jeans are so Flattering!

Who doesn't love a good pair of jeans? Everyone, from tomboys to girly-girls, has a favorite fit. Some love a relaxed boyfriend style, like the Morgan Jeans from Closet Case Files, and we all need a pair of the Ginger Jeans also by Closet Case Files as featured in my previous blogs! Some love a slim line, like these Safran Pants from Deer and Doe. If you are like me, you can see any of these styles fitting into various moods and activities.

We can all agree that shopping for the perfect fitting jeans is not only time consuming, but often frustrating! Either they fit in the waist but the booty is to tight, or they are perfectly tapered down the leg, but the rise is way to low. Not to mention, each brand uses a different sizing style, am I a size 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or a 26, 27, 28, 29, 30? More than likely, if you finally find the perfect jeans, you need to take out a second mortgage to pay the cashier.  And THIS is why you may want to try your hand a making a pair.

My new Safran Jeans and Tea House Top

Here they are with my Tea House Top from Sew House Seven

Getting ready for Layering with my Decades of Style, Threes a Charm Jacket, Grainline Studio's, Scout Tee and
my new favorite Deer and Doe, Safran Jeans! All available over at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics!

This month, we are making Deer and Doe's Safran jeans. I love the higher waist and the slim, but not skinny, legs. The front pockets are unique - perfect for some great top-stitching details.

Could these Saran Jeans be any cuter?!

I'm using the same stretch denim that I used for my Ginger Jeans by Closet Case Files (Read those blogs here and here), but this time in black for my Safran jeans. We decided on the Neon Pink for the top-stitching, but Laurel wanted to add some drama on the back pockets just for fun, so we are going to incorporate the Turquoise and the Gold thread as well. Shop our selection of fun neon top-stitching thread here!

Choosing "outside the box" with Neon Top Stitching Thread! - Yes we can!

Laurel came up with a swirl detail that we will stitch in all three colors.  She  drew it freehand on paper for a pattern and pinned it to the pocket. Is that an "S" that I see?

She stitched around the edge to the S shape pattern in pink, then removed the pattern and echoed the pink stitching as a guide for the other two colors.

We decided on a single row of top-stitching to attach the pockets.

It's all in the details!

Top-stitching thread is a lot heavier than normal sewing thread, so getting the tension right can be a bit of a challenge.  The important thing to remember is that people can only see the outside of your garment, so don't stress out if the inside stitching is a little wonky.  We notice that this often happens when you plant your needle, raise the presser foot and turn a corner, leaving a little loop of top-stitching thread on the inside. Oh well.

Finishing off the end of the stitching line works best of you gently tug on the bobbin thread to bring the top-stitching thread to the inside of the garment, then tie it off.

When top stitching over a heavier section like a seam, you can stop short of joining the line together and then hand sew, taking the top stitching thread to the inside, creating a "stitch" that joins the line, and then tying it off. This will eliminate any extra bulk that would be created by backstitching with the thicker thread.

We were pretty sure that the Safran jeans would fit, so Laurel installed the fly-front zipper before sewing the pants together.  If we needed to adjust the waist, we could reduce the back or side seams.

Don't forget to be creative with your lining fabric.  Of course you can always use the same denim for the lining, but why not make it fun? One of our many cotton prints would work beautifully! Shop them here. We used scraps of this paper crane cotton from a previous garment. Laurel is the master of reworking scraps!

Great way to use your left over fun scraps!

Another Thursday with Laurel - checking the booty for fit...

Hey, these fit!

Love these pockets!

Look how the top stitching thread pops!

Marking the hem...ready to send them back to Laurel's studio for the final steps.

Back in the Studio, Laurel attached the waistband and belt loops and finished the top stitching and hems. Nothing left but that pesky buttonhole and jeans button. Everything was going great until that perfectly sewn buttonhole was on the wrong side of the fly. Making mistakes is part of the creative process - we all do it, but Laurel finds it particularly annoying.

We were both reminded of one of my favorite books, Debbie Ford's The Dark Side of the Light Chasers. In this book we learned that we ALL have aspects of our nature that we don't like, but more to the point, we ALL have things that annoy us about other people. Debbie contends that it is these very things that we hate in others that also exist in us, perhaps even hidden. This hidden "Shadow" side of our personality, as Debbie calls it, is something that we must learn to embrace so that it no longer has an emotional charge.

Assuming that Debbie is on point (which we believe she is SO on target), after reading Debbie's book, Laurel shared that one of her trigger words was "stupid", as in not very smart or not smart enough. We won't go into all her issues with this word "stupid", but after reading about this concept of embracing her dark side, she can now easily admit that she too is sometimes "stupid."

Yes, that buttonhole is on the wrong side...rookie (stupid) mistake!! But hey, at the end of the day, she laughs at it, let's it go and let's her creativity kick in.  Throw a patch on that mistake buttonhole, attach the jean's button and call it a day!

Aaahhh.  Embracing her stupid side turns out to be a good thing for me!! Actually, I don't think this is a mistake after all - looks like it belonged there all along.

XOXOXO

 

Going to love these jeans!!

Laurel and I! She looks great in my Tea House top - so much that she's making one for herself!
All my indie me-made clothes are all working so well together :)

Feel like embracing your own "Shadow"? You can pick up Debbie's book The Dark Side of the Light Chasers from Amazon Books, or at your local bookstore. It will definitely give you something to think about. As women, we want to love our whole selves, not just the parts we like or that others find pleasing. It's okay to be "not good enough" once in a while!

And meanwhile, embrace your whole self and your creativity and sew a little heart in your jeans!

Yours Creatively,

Suzan

More Cotton Ikat choices on this Link!

Layering garments can be so much fun with the the Three's a Charm Jacket, Scout Tee
and the Safran Pants! Denim Dot Jacket fabric is at this link...Shop any of
our Woven Cottons at this link for the perfect Scout Tee!
Check out all the great "Bottom weight" choices for making pants at this link, too!