• Floral Prints for summer dresses
• More KnitFest
• Let’s Sew Retro

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• Watery blues
• Cool Neutrals
• Let’s Sew Retro

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• Skirts are pretty easy to make so whether you are beginner or advanced, this is a garment that will work in your sewing room.
• Skirts can be created from a wide variety of fabrics:  knit/woven, print/solid, textured/smooth
• Most importantly, this year’s skirt trend is all about the skirt!  It’s not about what silhouette has risen to the top of the charts or which length is in, it’s about wearing skirts!  Your choice of style and length, whatever flatters you!!  I love it.

Jenny has just started a Skirt Sew Along in our Savvy Sewer Salon.  She’ll be making 5 skirts in a variety of styles and fabrics.  Join in as she fills her closet with new outfits. Here’s a peek at her first one.

Jenny's Box Pleat Skirt

Join our Sew Along…all that’s needed is fabric from SBDF and a willingness to share your process.  Lurkers are welcome too.

In the spirit of the trend I’ve been collecting inspiration on a Pinterest style board.  I’ll add more as I find them…not too hard to do this spring!

If you are shopping for skirt fabric, our offerings range from 4-way stretch cotton for sturdy fly-front or button-front casual skirts…khaki, dark brown and black

First Choice 4-way stretch

to floaty cotton voile for soft feminine full skirts.

Lady Bird Cotton Voile

Pencil skirts work well in cotton satin and spring/summer is the perfect season to choose a happy color.

Apricot Satin

or choose a bold print.  If its too much for a top, a short pencil skirt may be just the right way to wear the fabric.

Gaussian Flower

Popular for pleats are linens like Balsa, Custard or Rosy Pink

Rosy Pink Linen

We think some of our fine cotton paisley prints would work for a retro Maxi skirt.

Persian Carpet

Comment here to tell us what skirt/s you’ve chosen this spring.

• KnitFest Continues
• FlowerFest Begins

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• Easy breezy spring batiks
• New linens for dress, blouses and skirts
• Skirting the Issue sew along

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• Spring Arrives in a torrent of color
• Prints, solids, knits, wovens….
• New Skirt Sew Along
• Finding Closure -the perfect match

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• The hotter the weather, the brighter the better!
• Hot Shots-How to Wear Hot Colors
• Bright and Beautiful Buttons
• Finding Closure Contest Winner

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This spring is all about hot colors!  Don’t be intimidated by these intense colors!  There are many ways to incorporate color into your wardrobe without going all the way.  The easy solution to nodding to the trend is through accessories.  We think that’s a great idea, but here at SB, we’re all about fabrics so we’re looking a bit beyond “hardware”.

First, a few definitions…this is how we are using color adjectives this spring.

Neon:  High color with lots of highlight—close to fluorescent.

Spring Ponte-Neon Lime

Vivid:   Brilliant and bold.

Geranium Pique

Dynamic:  Deeply saturated colors

Dress Ponte in Spicy Coral

Generically we can call these “brights”.  The fashion industry has gone over the top with fully saturated color this season.  It’s fun, it’s happy and if everyone is wearing bright color, you blend right in!

Colorblock 

There are wonderful ideas out in the marketplace for colorblocking this season.  I’ve been trying to gather some photos for inspiration on my Pinterest board. Most colorblocked garments have simple silhouettes so that the delineation between the fabrics is crisp and uncompromised by excess seaming.  Successful color blocking requires that all the fabrics are about the same weight and have  very similar properties.  The ideal especially for a first attempt is to choose two identical fabrics in different colors.

Dynamic Banana

The second choice is to find very similar fabrics in weight and stretch.  For instance, you may choose two jersey knits, but one has way more stretch than the other.  This will result in a poor marriage between the blocks.   Below you will see a pique knit which is much more stable than the viscose print, but the stretch factor is similar.  We think these would work well together in a garment. Not tested, just surmised.

Vivid Plum

A third possibility is to  break up the blocks with woven strips for stabilization.  This could work for a Mondrian inspired dress or jacket for instance.  The best advice is the usual: Test, test, test

Coordinate

An easy way to wear some bright color is to team it with a neutral or with a softer shade of the same color.  Coordination used to mean matchy, matchy. But for a number of years we have suggested that sewists think more in terms of blending rather than matching to achieve a coordinated look. This means finding colors that are pleasing together and that complement one another in both color and texture.  For most people a medium contrast works better than a high contrast. If you can wear a high contrast like crisp black and stark white, by all means do it.  When it comes to brights, we suggest using your best neutral:  navy, brown, black, gray, white and choosing a bright color that blends and flatters your best feature.  Want to emphasize your facial features or hair?

Choose a bright top and team it with khaki pants.

Packables-Tamale

For other bright tops see Knits.

First Choice-khaki 4x stretch

Looking to show a little leg?  Choose a bright skirt and wear a softer color or a neutral near your face.

Pandabear Bamboo Rayon

Rock Sound Cotton

For other bright skirts see prints

 Accent

Presentation

Wild Watermelon

Bright colors are perfect for dramatic accents.  Even a navy business suit comes alive with a fuchsia tank or cami.

We hope you have fun this season with the brights we have in stock…We will do our best to add suggestions for go-togethers on our store pages.  If you are questioning whether two fabrics work together, please feel free to email us or call us. 

• In Print — read your fabric!
• New Back Room Fabrics
• New on Pinterest
• Finding Closure Contest

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• Pretty pinks in bright shades
• Textural neutrals
• New on Pinterest
• Finding Closure Contest

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